Missing!
by Jenny wrens
Summary: Gibbs has a less than stellar parenting moment with Aimee causing hard feelings between them. Aimee goes missing, and everyone is hard pressed to find her. Papa Gibbs/ Aimee/ Janessa. Internal Damage Universe. Short story.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N_**

 _ **Hello, Faithful Readers!**_

 _ **Well, I had such a wonderful response to my story, Internal Damage, so I thought I'd write a few short stories in this universe before beginning a longer work down the road.**_

 _ **This story will be under 10 chapters.**_

 _ **Gibbs is back to work. The girls spend some days at NCIS when Gibbs'** **neighbour, Mrs.** **Buchannan, isn't able to babysit for him.**_

 _ **I also created a graphic of what I imagine Aimee and Janessa could look like for your enjoyment. (and mine :) )**_

Gibbs walked out of the elevator towards Abby's lab with a slight skip in his step. He was finally back to work after what seemed like an extremely long hiatus. His health was back, and he felt better than he had in years. He was ready to be back in the saddle. Back to the nitty gritty, mundane, everyday tasks of criminal investigation and he'd never been happier. He'd been back for a week, and right away they'd been tossed into a complicated case. Gibbs swore Jenny was just holding back all the convoluted cases just for him. He'd shown her. Gibbs assigned Tony the lead. It was much to the younger man's delight too. Yes, Gibbs was enjoying some normalcy once again. Albeit, it was a new, strange and unknown kind of normalcy and he was still trying to navigate his way around it. He'd been thrown a curveball, to say the least. He'd never anticipated being a father to two rambunctious little girls this late in the game. It wasn't official yet, and likely, he had a long legal battle ahead of him, but he knew he was up to the challenge. The two giggly, blond monsters had taken permanent residence in his home, throwing his entire life upside down, and Gibbs was completely okay with it. Everyone was slowly adjusting and adapting to the new team Gibbs. Aimee and Janessa Percy brought a whole new and special kind of fulfillment to his life. And he knew he wasn't alone. The rest of his makeshift family loved the girls as much as he did. They had all become their own ready-made family.

Gibbs tightened his grip on the frosty cherry Caf-Pow in his hand as he entered the lab. The eldest daughter of his heart was standing by her computer inputting data while beside her sat her miniature assistant. Gibbs heard them bickering and giggling loudly together as he walked up to them.

"Do too," said Janessa. "Hi, Mr. Gibbs." Her big cheeky grin lit up the room.

Gibbs set Abby's drink beside her and leaned over to kiss Janessa on her blond head.

"Hey there, Ness. Having fun with Abby?"

"Yep."

"Do not!" Abby stuck her tongue out at Janessa, snatched up the caffeine drink and took a long, satisfying gulp. "Thanks, Gibbs. I needed that." Gibbs kissed Abby's forehead with a smirk.

"Whaddya got for me, Abbs?"

"You do too, Abby," giggled Janessa again.

"I do not." Abby glared at the little girl, sighed and moved towards her office where she did ballistics.

"Do too!"

Gibbs followed Abby to her office. "What did Duck send up?"

"Two bullets, some hair and fabric samples." Abby showed Gibbs the bullets and then leaned her head around the corner. "Do not!"

Gibbs frowned. "Abbs, you do realise you're arguing with a five year old, right?"

Abby smirked. "Yep."

"Do too, Abby!"

"What are you arguing about anyway?"

Abby printed off some information from her office computer and handed it to Gibbs. "I don't remember."

Gibbs scratched his head and took the paperwork. "Then why are you arguing?"

"Do not!" shouted Abby again.

Gibbs grimaced.

"Keeps her entertained. She's got such a cute giggle, don't you think?"

Janessa entered Abby's office. "Do too!" She put a hand over her mouth and giggled again. Gibbs rolled his eyes and picked up the little girl in his arms, placing her on his hip.

"What are you arguing about?" he asked Janessa.

The little girl wrapped her legs around Gibbs' waist, giving him a huge hug. "Abby likes Timmy."

Abby gasped. "I do not!" Then she sobered as Gibbs rose his eye brows. "Well, of course, I like him, Gibbs. He's Timmy! I just don't _like like_ him."

"Do too!" Janessa poked her tongue out at Abby and then looked at Gibbs. "Abby and Timmy are gonna get married." The giggling girl brushed hair from her flushed face. "Abby and Timmy sitting in a tree…" Her sweet sing song voice filled the room.

Gibbs bit his lip to keep from laughing.

Abby's eyes widening in indignation. "We are not!"

"Are too!" insisted Janessa.

"Gibbs!" Abby sounded exasperated now. "Help me out here."

Gibbs shrugged, planted a kiss on Janessa's cheek and slid her to the floor. He clutched the information that he'd come for and headed towards the exit.

"We are not!" Abby put her hands on her hips and glowered at the giggling girl in front of her. "Gibbs!" she shouted after him when she realised he was bidding a hasty retreat.

Gibbs kept walking until he reached the door and then turned on his heel remembering another reason he'd walked down to the lab. "Hey, Abbs, have ya seen Aimee?"

Abby reached out and tickled Janessa sending the little girl into a fit of hysterical giggles. "Last time I saw her, she was with Jimmy in Autopsy. Ducky said they were driving him crazy."

Gibbs sighed and walked out. He didn't like either of the girls in autopsy without him knowing it. It wasn't exactly the most appropriate place for children. He groaned under his breath. Aimee was supposed to be doing some math homework that he'd assigned her. He'd discovered quite by accident that the little girl struggled with her addition and subtraction math facts. It worried him. At her grade level, she should have known them cold and be well on her way to mastering her multiplication tables. He'd dropped by Jenny's office earlier to check on her progress only to discover Aimee missing. Jenny was so preoccupied with work that she was unable to tell him how long the little girl had been MIA. She could only say that she had left to use the washroom. Obviously, there had been a change of plans somewhere along the way.

"Don't let her shoot the guns, Abbs!" He called back as he stood in front on the elevator.

As expected, Abby poked her head out the door holding up a pink pair of child size earmuffs covered in skull and crossbones. "Not even if she uses these?"

Gibbs scowled. "Abby!"

Abby's face fell. "Fine. You're such a spoil sport, Gibbs!"

The elevator lift arrived with a loud ding and the door sprang open. Gibbs hit Abby with a warning glare and disappeared inside the small space. As the lift began its descent to the duck pond, a smile crept to Gibbs face. He thought he could hear a faint "Are too." in the distance. Gibbs imagined her breaking into a fit of giggles once again as Abby chased her around the lab. Gibbs shook his head and chuckled. Life was so much more delightful with the girls in their lives.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs entered the double doors to see Ducky working at his desk. One scan around the room showed him no sign of Palmer or Aimee. All the autopsy stations were vacant and sterile as well. Gibbs felt relief sweep over him. He didn't like the girls in autopsy if there were active cases going. And with NSIC, there always seemed to several going at once.

"Hey, Duck, got anything yet?"

Dr. Ducky Mallard turned to Gibbs and smiled warmly. The older man stood to his feet and began walking to the freezer drawers at the back of the room.

"It seems like our Petty Officer has seen better days. Two shots to the head, to begin with, the first being the kill shot, but I do speculate that he didn't go down without a fight."

Gibbs gritted his teeth. The officer had been young, and it always bothered him when a kid's life was taken too soon.

"Done the autopsy already?"

"Not exactly."

Ducky scanned the drawers searching for the correct one. He pulled out the drawer revealing the deceased officer. Gibbs grimaced at the sight. He never quite got used to seeing dead bodies, no matter how long he'd been in the business of criminal investigation. Each time he came down to autopsy he was reminded why so many of the other SFA avoided the place. He was surprised, however, to see that the petty officer's remains were mostly still intact, not bearing the telltale cross row of stitches from autopsy.

"Hardly began before we had some, shall we say shelving difficulties?"

Gibbs narrowed his brows. "What?"

Ducky moved to open another drawer, directly below the Petty officer. A sickeningly pungent odor permeated the room causing Gibbs to take a step back and cover his face. His stomach churned threatening to upheave his morning coffee and bagel. Ducky quickly closed the drawer, waving his hand in front of his nose.

"Until my refrigeration system is back online and they check into my environmental controls and bacteria levels, I'll need to leave our new friend on ice. I don't want to risk compromising evidence." Ducky reached out and shut the drawer with the Petty officer inside.

Gibbs nodded.

"The county coroner has agreed to store some of our other friends on the lower levels until we get things back up and running again. Most of them are solved cases awaiting family to identify the remains."

Gibbs took another few steps backward as Ducky secured the outside lock on the lowered drawer he'd just opened.

"Mr. Palmer has already disinfected and cleaned the other malfunctioning fridges."

Gibbs grimaced again. "And you couldn't have shown me one of them, Duck?"

Ducky smirked. "Sure, I could have, Jethro, but it wouldn't have given you the full comprehension of the problem."

Gibbs painfully rolled his eyes at his friend. "Gee, thanks, Duck."

Ducky chuckled at Gibbs sour face.

Muffled giggling was heard from below them. Gibbs' face froze as he recognised the familiar sound and he frowned, looking at Ducky in dismay. Ducky's face grew pale as he began to check several of the lower drawers beside the one he'd just opened. Sure enough one of them was unlocked and partially ajar. Ducky pulled it out to see Aimee laying on her back looking up at them. She quickly put a finger to her mouth and shushed them. Her face was flushed and her eyes were glowing with excitement.

"Shush…don't tell Jimmy where I am," She giggled. "I wanna jump out and scare him."

Gibbs blanched, and then quickly recovered from his incredulity. He roughly grabbed the girl around the waist, hauled her out of the drawer and carried her to the closest autopsy table. He planted her bottom firmly on the slab and rested his hands on either side of her legs leaning intimidatingly close to her face. Aimee gulped in trepidation. The expression on Gibbs' face left no room for misunderstandings. He was angry.

"What do you think you're doing in there?"

Aimee blinked several times feeling bewildered and light headed by her sudden relocation. "I-I..." she stammered.

Gibbs glanced back at the fridge with his mind whirling at the possibilities of the tragedy that could have befallen the youngster. "Those drawers are not places to play, Aimee Percy! What if Ducky had locked you inside?"

Aimee chewed her lip, her face paling at his words.

"That whole wall is a refrigerator, for Pete's sake. Each drawer is used to store dead bodies." Gibbs was not one to mince words.

"B-but, those bottom ones are broken." She pointed at the bottom right side of the drawers. "Jimmy was cleaning them out…"

Gibbs felt his heart racing in his chest. What if Ducky had locked her inside? Just how long could she have survived in there before they found her? Would they have even thought to look? The very thought made him visibly shudder.

Gibbs pointed a stern finger in her face. "Don't you _ever_ go inside one of those again!"

He reached up, placed his hands on her forearms and shook her in frustration. "Broken or not, someone could lock you inside. There are no handles on the inside, Aimee! You'd be trapped!"

Aimee's bottom lip trembled and she blinked back tears. Gibbs voice was brusque, and he didn't allow her tears to deter him from giving her a proper scolding. He kept his grip on her arms.

"I didn't think…"

"That's right, you didn't think!" Gibbs snapped.

Aimee winced as Gibbs' grip pinched at her arms.

Just then, Jimmy sauntered in wearing scrubs and bright yellow rubber gloves, unaware of the tension in the room.

"County coroner just picked up our friends, Dr. Mallard. He said to give him a call when things are back up. They've got plenty of room." Jimmy was carrying a pail of hot soapy water and cleaning chemicals in one hand and a bag of chips in the other. He looked up oblivious to the situation seeing Aimee and Gibbs. He smiled warmly, acknowledging the older man with a friendly greeting.

"Hiya, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs didn't answer but remained transfixed on Aimee.

Jimmy continued. "Hey, Aimee, I brought us a snack for later. Thought I'd sanitize the last couple of drawers and then maybe head over to the real duck pond…" His eyes met Gibbs and he stopped mid-sentence.

"Uh, did I interrupt something?"

"Someone thought it'd be a good idea to hide in the morgue drawers to play a trick on you, Palmer," answered Gibbs gruffly, still staring at Aimee.

"Now, Jethro," began Ducky, attempting to bring perspective to the situation.

Jimmy paled and gaped at Aimee. "Oh my goodness! That's not a very wise thing to do, Aimee."

"Ya think, Palmer!" shouted Gibbs, not caring in the least that Jimmy's wasn't at fault for what Aimee had done it.

"I-I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs. I only left for a few minutes to speak with the coroner…"

Ducky took a few steps towards Jimmy. "Don't worry, Mr. Palmer. It is in no way your fault."

Jimmy did not look convinced.

Gibbs turned his attention back to Aimee. "Why are you even down here? I left you with Director Shepard. You're supposed to be working on your math homework."

Aimee's face clouded, remorse being quickly replaced with indignation. "I hate math!"

Gibbs straightened up, releasing his grip and crossing his arms. "That's not what I asked."

Aimee dropped her chin. "I had to use the washroom."

"So, you thought you'd come to the basement and use that one?"

"No," she mumbled finding her fingers a wonderful distraction. "I saw Jimmy in the hallway, and he told me about the fridges being broken. I said I'd keep him company while he cleaned 'em. I thought it'd be ok since there wouldn't be any dead bodies getting cut up."

Jimmy cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs. I didn't know she had homework to do."

Gibbs ignored Palmer and further glared at Aimee. "You have no business in autopsy without my permission, young lady. You have no clue what is happening down here."

"With all due respect, Agent Gibbs," cut in Jimmy. "I wouldn't have allowed her access if it wasn't safe to do so."

Gibbs glared at Jimmy this time. Jimmy closed his mouth, feeling about as old as Aimee in that moment.

Ducky put a hand on Gibbs forearm. "Now, now, Jethro, no harm was done, and I'm sure young Aimee here has learned a valuable lesson about the refrigerators in autopsy."

Ducky was surprised when Gibbs turned his steely glare on him as well. The M.E. also stepped back, unsure of how to approach the younger man when he was so upset. Ducky realised he was treading on new ground with Gibbs.

"I just wanted to help," whined Aimee. "I knew I couldn't get stuck in the drawers if we were cleaning them. It was just supposed to be a funny joke, Gibbs. Chill out!"

Gibbs looked at Aimee and something in her tone and demeanor just grated on him. She was being so flippant and disrespectful, and it felt like she was gambling on the idea that she could say whatever she felt like with the Ducky/Jimmy fan club to take her side. Gibbs tossed Jimmy a scathing glare causing the younger man to drop his gaze to the floor. Gibbs then turned to Ducky for some kind of moral adult support only to see the flabbergasted expression on his face. Gibbs knew he should calm down but he couldn't. His mind was still spinning, thinking about Aimee being locked in the drawer. The irrational side of him quickly took over before he could stop it. He reached out and firmly took Aimee by the waist, sliding her feet to the floor. He roughly turned her sideways and landed several painful swats on her backside. The sound of his hand meeting her jean clad behind reverberated throughout the sterile room.

Jimmy's eyes widened in embarrassed disbelief.

Ducky sucked in an involuntary breath of astonishment.

Aimee gasped in surprise and spun back around to stare at Gibbs in hurt bewilderment. Her hand shot back to rub out the sting as tears sprang to her eyes.

"Get your butt upstairs to the bullpen and sit at my desk. Don't you dare think of moving from there until it's time to go home. Got it?"

Aimee started to say something but Gibbs placed his finger firmly on her lips. "Not one word."

She glowered at him and slowly made her way across the room. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and continued to rub her backside. When she reached the door, she grasped the handle and turned to look at him.

"You suck!" she shouted, wiping at tears that betrayed her.

Gibbs put his hands on his hips gruffly and glared at her. She blinked back more tears and ran from the room, slamming the door behind her.

The room felt like it was closing in on him as Gibbs began to come back down from his tirade. He sucked in a sharp breath doing what he could to catch it and calm down. Sticking his sweaty hands into his pockets, he clenched his jaw and gripped his upper thigh, momentarily pinching it to help relieve the tension. No matter what else happened in his day, he wouldn't be able to erase from his mind the vision of Aimee lying in the morgue drawer. It had terrified him.

Jimmy was the first to find his voice. "Uh, I'm going to finish disinfecting the drawers, Dr. Mallard." Jimmy did not make eye contact with Gibbs this time. Instead, he made a point of showing his earbuds to Ducky and putting them in his ears as he walked towards the back of the room.

Ducky silently nodded his appreciation to his assistant.

"Would you like a cup of tea, Jethro?" asked Ducky, wandering towards the table at the back of the room where a small kitchenette was located.

Gibbs closed his eyes briefly and nodded, following his old friend. His moist hands continue to tremble in his pockets.

"Ah, hell, Duck. I know what you're gonna say…"

Ducky poured some mugs of tea and handed one to Gibbs.

"No, my dear boy, I don't think you do."

Gibbs felt his back go up. "I don't need a lecture on the finer points of parenting from you, Duck."

Ducky grimaced. "Jethro, you were out of line no matter how you look at it. The discipline you chose set aside; you humiliated the poor dear child. Discipline should always been done in private and certainly not in the heat of the moment when it's more than obvious you're angry. I would think you'd have learned that a long time ago dealing with young Anthony day in and day out."

Gibbs felt his line of defense tumble down around him. Heat came to his cheeks as he began to calm down and realise what he'd done. He accepted the mug Ducky held out to him and raked his other hand through his graying hair.

"She could have been trapped in there, Duck! Autopsy is not a place for kids to play."

"But she wasn't, Jethro. And if you don't want the girls at NCIS then you'd better start looking into a more permanent alternative. While Janessa is still young enough for the day care program, Aimee is far too old. You can't keep giving her homework all day and not expect her to seek out other entertainment."

Gibbs stared into his teacup. "She's behind," he muttered, feeling like he needed to defend himself. Gibbs had registered the girls for school and they were to begin after Christmas holidays.

Ducky sighed, ignoring the comment. "I understand she frightened you. That much is plain to see. It most certainly wasn't safe for her to play in here; that's true, but her intentions were innocent, Jethro. She didn't set out to defy you on purpose. It was a teachable moment that you let pass by you."

Gibbs puffed out his cheeks, feeling chastised. Ducky was correct on every point. He shouldn't have flown off the handle like that, and he definitely shouldn't have hit her.

"Damn it," he murmured, setting his mug down hard enough for it to spill over.

Ducky offered him a warm smile. "Children are resilient, my dear friend." Ducky clapped Gibbs gently on the shoulder. "Aimee will forgive you."

Gibbs chewed his lip. He knew Ducky was likely correct on that as well. The trouble wasn't Aimee forgiving him. It was him forgiving himself.

Gibbs looked over towards Jimmy and felt heat come to his cheeks again. He'd made a fool out of himself in front of Palmer and Ducky, and he'd hurt Aimee.

"Don't worry about Mr. Palmer, Jethro. Go see if you can make amends with Aimee. I'm sure she is feeling quite misunderstood at the moment."

Gibbs nodded and without another word left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs entered the elevator and hit the button that would take him back to the bullpen. Glancing at his watch, he groaned. Two hours had passed since he'd last spoken his angry words to Aimee. Once he'd left Autopsy he was immediately inundated with task after mundane task, each stealing his attention so completely that time got away on him. He'd never intended on leaving Aimee to stew that long. He'd finally been able to escape the motor pool garage after being summoned by Abby to show him how the bullets ricocheted off the dash and hit the petty officer. Now in the elevator, he hit the emergency stop button, allowing himself a few minutes to gather his thoughts.

 _So much for a successful transition back to work,_ he thought.

He'd started out the week congratulating himself on balancing everything and now he wasn't so sure. The whole parenting thing was turning out to be much more complicated then he remembered, not that he'd never presumed it would be easy. He was under no such illusion. He still had very vivid memories of not so grand parenting moments with Kelly. However, he'd also never tried to work and balance kids on his own. Shannon had always handled everything kid related when he was deployed all those times. Now it all fell into his lap. He'd been granted some allowances by NCIS while he figured things out. All of his team and the other agents at NCIS were being very tolerant and understanding of his quandary. And he certainly wasn't the only parent on the payroll. But to quote an idiom, it was time to poop or get off the pot. Gibbs half smirked at his own inner ramblings. He'd even started to censor the language in his head since bringing the girls into his life. Not an easy thing to do when he was a seasoned military man, but necessarily a bad thing either.

His mind turned back to Aimee and their altercation in Autopsy. He'd blown it big time and he'd been berating himself ever since. He'd lost his temper and lashed out at the kid without a second thought. She'd scared years off his life by hiding in the mortuary drawers. And the truth was Aimee just seemed to bring out the worst in him sometimes. Jenny teased him that it was because they were so much alike and that Gibbs was reacting out of dislike for the character flaws he saw in Aimee that reminded him so much of his own self. He raked a weary hand through his hair. Maybe it was true. At any rate, he needed to better keep himself in check and be proactive rather than reactive. Deciding to bite the bullet and go talk to the girl, Gibbs hit the button to start the lift once again.

The elevator arrived and Gibbs walked off to hear giggling once again. He rolled his eyes in amusement. This would be the third time today that he knew of that someone on his team had 'rescued' Janessa from daycare. It seemed that Janessa had become some kind of mascot or new treasured toy. No one could resist her charms. He came around the corner to see Tony swinging Janessa around in circles in the centre of the bullpen. He'd need to put his foot down and ask the daycare workers not to release the little girl to anyone but him. At this rate, no one would get any work done.

"Any leads, DiNozzo?" he barked as he walked in glaring at Tony.

Tony gently landed Janessa to her feet, and the little girl stumbled to keep her footing, her head still spinning as her inner ear fluid continued to rotate. Gibbs reached out to grab her arm to lessen the impact with the floor when she tumbled downward.

Janessa giggled. "I'm a space shuttle, Mr. Gibbs."

"If you're not careful, you'll be spewing rocket fuel all over the bullpen."

Tony grinned and gripped his desk, trying to regain his own balance.

"Hey, Boss, we're still processing some leads. McGee is imputing data in MTAC." Tony grabbed a bottle of water from his desk and chugged back a gulp. "Can't do much without ballistics and Ducky's report, though."

"Abby's got a good lead on the ballistics." Gibbs waved the folder in the air. "Refrigeration still out in Autopsy I presume?"

Tony nodded. "Yep. Last I heard all the fridges are out. Ducky is close to having a coronary."

Gibbs frowned. That wasn't the kind of thing they needed when they had so many active cases on the docket.

"Pretty sure I left this little monster in daycare." Gibbs gently tapped Janessa on the head with the file folder still in his head. The little girl sprawled out on the floor like a starfish, rolling her head back and forth.

"Rockets must get really dizzy," muttered Janessa, looking a little green.

Tony smirked. "You did. I was on break so I sprung her from the pokey…"

"Seen Aimee?" asked Gibbs, cutting the younger man off and surveying his desk with a grimace.

"Not since this morning."

Gibbs scowled and walked to his desk, setting his file down. His desk had seen better days, evidence that Aimee had been at his desk at some point and wandered off again. He groaned, taking in her 'revenge' on him. The girl had managed to use just about every sticky note he owned, cutting letters and sticking them strategically all around his cubicle. The sticky letters spelled out several expletives that made Gibbs' hair stand on end.

Tony walked up behind Gibbs and whistled. "Whoa, Boss, pretty sure I didn't know that word until at least sixth grade." Gibbs scowled at him and Tony grinned unabashed. "What did you do to make it on her hit list, Boss?"

Gibbs started to gather up the notes. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it.

"You haven't seen her at all since you've been back?"

"Nope. Ziva and I got back around noon, grabbed some lunch from the cafeteria and we've been in MTAC all afternoon. I went for a snack with Nessie at 4 and then we came here. I thought Aimee was hanging out with you or the director.

"She was supposed to be waiting for me at my desk."

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good."

Gibbs glared and Tony dropped his gaze to the floor, reading all the messages Aimee left for Gibbs. "I'm impressed. The kid can spell better than most of the perps we bring in."

Gibbs continued to glare, but not so much at Tony this time. More inwardly cringing at the thought that Aimee was so well versed in curse words at such a young age. "She's an army brat. It's almost like a second language."

Tony whistled again and scratched his chin. "I'm not even sure _I know_ what some of those words mean."

Janessa suddenly sat up in the middle of the floor looking a lot less green. "Aimee's probably hiding. NCIS is ginormous." She stretched out her arms wide. "You could get losted here for days and nobody'd find ya." The blue eyed girl yawned until her entire face disappeared. "I'm hungry, Mr. Gibbs."

Tony scowled at her. "I just fed you, you little monkey."

Janessa rubbed her eyes and shrugged. "My snack tummy is all fulled up but my supper tummy is empty."

Tony rolled his eyes and chuckled.

Gibbs circled his desk and gathered the little girl up into his arms, planting a kiss onto her head. It was past five and certainly a decent time to call it a day.

"Mind cleaning up the rest of Aimee's artistry for me?" he asked Tony.

Tony nodded. "Sure, Boss. When I'm done I'll scout out some of the places I've seen Aimee hanging out in. I'll get Ziva and Tim to look as well. We can't do much more on this case until Ducky finishes the autopsy anyway."

Gibbs sighed. The case set aside, he was getting worried about Aimee. Surely she wouldn't have gone far. He knew she was upset with him but she wasn't one to purposely disobey him. Or was she? They were really just starting to get to know one another's idiosyncrasies. Maybe she just went to the washroom or back up to Jenny's office. Gibbs sincerely hoped so. He did not relish another head to head confrontation with the youngster.

"I'll check in Director Shepard's office. She's probably talking Cynthia's head off."

Janessa rested her head on Gibb's shoulder quickly becoming a dead weight in his arms. Her tiny legs dangled and she became quiet. He adjusted her weight on his hip and started walking towards the staircase to the second level. Perhaps if she had a nap now it would make the evening routine less stressful. Lately, she'd turned into a grouchy bear while he tried to get supper on the table. He really missed Abby being home and making meals ahead of time. Now that she was back to work, they all were tired, hungry and grumpy when they got home.

Gibbs climbed the stairs grimacing as his knees creaked and cracked. Too many years as a marine gunny and sniper had taken its toll on his knees. He reached the top of the stairs, adjusted Janessa again and walked towards Jenny's office. He entered the front foyer and plopped Janessa down in a chair by Cynthia. The pleasant pecan haired woman smiled up at him. Janessa's eyes fluttered and she yawned again.

"Mind keeping an eye on her for a couple of minutes?"

Cynthia smiled. "Of course, Agent Gibbs. Janessa and I are old friends."

Janessa managed a sleepy smile and rested her head on her hand. Her eyes fluttered again and then closed.

Gibbs smirked. "Don't think she'll be a problem."

"I guess not." Cynthia laughed.

"You haven't by any chance seen Aimee lately, have you?"

"She was here about a half hour ago. Told me that you told her she had to sit at your desk." Cynthia bit back a smirk. "She also told me, and I quote, 'Agent Gibbs is a dummy head.'"

Gibbs chuckled with a pained expression on his face. "Yah. She's not very happy with me, I'm afraid."

Just then Jenny's door opened and she walked towards him carrying her jacket and briefcase.

"Oh, Jethro, just the man I wanted to see," began Jenny. "I'm beat and was wondering if you and the girls wanted to eat out with me tonight. My treat?" Jenny looked hopeful as she smiled at Gibbs. Seeing Janessa falling asleep in the chair made her smile grow larger. "Aww, bless her heart. She looks exhausted."

Gibbs returned the smile. "It's no wonder. I signed her into the daycare at 8 this morning, and I've seen her all over the building. Abby had her in the lab, Tim had her in the storage room, Ducky took her to the duck pond, and I took her to the cafeteria for lunch…"

Jenny's face coloured. "I took her with me to visit Phillip Davenport this morning too."

Gibbs ran a gentle hand over the little girl's hair. "How's the SecNav today?" Sarcasm dripped from the words.

Jenny scowled at him. "Be nice, Jethro."

"I was being nice." He commented with a twinkle in his eye. "Well, that explains why the kid is so tired; she's put a full day's work. Remind me again why I'm paying daycare fees?"

Jenny laughed. Gibbs gathered Janessa up into his arms and began to walk with Jenny out of her office, both of them bidding Cynthia a pleasant evening.

"I take it Aimee isn't with you?"

Jenny shook her head. "She was with me this morning working on the math work you gave her and then I lost track of time. She must have wondered off sometime before I left to see Phillip. He's absolutely smitten by Janessa."

"Who isn't?" Gibbs commented thoughtfully, his mind still on Aimee's whereabouts.

"Have you checked with Ducky? Aimee loves hanging out with Jimmy."

Gibb's face clouded as they walked towards the top of the staircase. "I don't want the girls down in Autopsy anymore." His voice was gruff enough that Janessa stirred in her sleep. Gibbs rubbed her back gently as he and Jenny descended the roundabout staircase.

Jenny's brow furrowed. "Why not? Ducky is always careful to make sure they don't see anything inappropriate."

Gibbs began to explain the incident in Autopsy including him losing his temper. Jenny remained quiet as he recounted how frightened he'd been seeing Aimee looking up at him from the drawer. She didn't say anything as they walked slowly down the stairs to the landing. Gibbs' stomach continued churning as he relived the experience. Once on the ground floor and out of sight of the bullpen, Jenny pulled him into her arms for a comforting hug.

"You're human, Jethro. Cut yourself some slack. Any parent would have freaked out at that."

Gibbs clenched his jaw in response and nodded. He wanted to believe her so it would be easier to forgive himself.

"C'mon, let's start searching." Jenny lifted Janessa's arm and dropped it. "Why don't you leave her with one of the other agents; it's obvious she's down for the count for now."

Gibbs nodded walking over to one of the female agents who was still diligently working. "Mind keeping an eye on her for me, Agent Logan?"

The dirty blonde haired woman looked up with a warm smile. "Sure, Gibbs."

Jenny set her coat and purse on the desk as well. "Have you seen Aimee?"

Kiersten Logan took Janessa from Gibbs and held her close while rocking the child back and forth in her arms. "Not recently, Ma'am." She turned to face Gibbs again. "I'm catching up on some work so I'll be here another few hours. Take your time, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded his appreciation and turned to Jenny once again. "Any ideas?"

Jenny shrugged. "Let's start with security and rule out if she tried to leave the building."

Gibbs felt his heart jump into his throat. It hadn't occurred to him that Aimee would run away. He felt the colour drain from his face. Would she be angry enough to actually leave the building on her own?

Jenny took his hand gently. "Don't borrow trouble, Jethro." The pallor of Gibbs face told Jenny she had planted worse thoughts in his mind. "Security would have never let her leave on her own, but they might have seen her," she assured him.

Gibbs nodded and followed her to the elevator.


	3. Chapter 3

Aimee blinked her eyes in the darkness. She wished she'd taken a flashlight with her to help look for her jackknife. She leaned against the wall and furrowed her brow in frustration as she forced herself to retrace her steps in her mind. She'd put the knife in her pocket that morning but she couldn't quite remember where she'd left it. Ever since she'd come to live with Gibbs, she'd taken up the habit of carrying a knife. Gibbs rule number...well, Aimee couldn't remember the number of the rule, but she knew it was a rule. And it was a rule she liked even though Gibbs didn't know she had a knife. As soon as she began to learn many of Gibbs' rules for his team, she'd started to adopt a few ones she liked. She thought all the secret agent stuff was cool and even hoped to work for NCIS when she grew up.

One day when she'd been playing hide and seek in his bedroom, she'd stumbled across his cell phone as well as an old Swiss army knife. She'd pocketed them both as her treasures. She knew Gibbs hated smartphones anyway and wouldn't likely miss it. She'd even managed to abscond with the knife downstairs to the basement when Gibbs was at work, polishing it up with some chemical sprays she'd found lying out on the work bench. Gibbs would probably have a fit if he knew she'd taken the knife or that she'd played around in his precious basement again. The man was completely over the top nuts about rules. It was beginning to make Aimee feel ready to implode.

There was only so much she could take from Gibbs. He was so controlling and cranky. He made her eat green, disgusting food. He made her sit and memorise math facts, and he'd signed them up for school. Aimee shuddered at the thought. There was no way she was going. She didn't care what he did to her; she wasn't going to any dumb school. She'd hide in the treehouse or run away before she'd be bullied into that. Aimee had been homeschooled her whole life and she knew a lot more than Gibbs thought she did. Certainly more than anything she'd learn inside some stupid school. Gibbs thought she was dumb and didn't know her math facts. Aimee smirked to herself. She knew her math facts cold and could do them in her sleep. Heck, she even knew all her multiplication tables too. She just didn't feel like being his trained seal. Just because he thought he was in charge of her didn't mean he was. She reached back and felt the math papers in her pocket with a sly smirk. Pulling them out, she dropped them on the floor.

Gibbs was a killjoy in her opinion. Anytime she did anything fun, he'd stick his nose in and ruin it. Her Lego city for instance; Tony and Tim had spent so much money buying her all this super cool Lego and she'd spent hours setting it up only for Gibbs to force her to clean it up and put it all away. It was so utterly ridiculous. It was a pain in the butt to keep setting it up and it took hours. All she wanted to do was play with it when she had time, but no. Gibbs made her clean it all up, pack it in its boxes and store it away nearly every time she played with it. Aimee had half a mind to set up a trap in his bedroom in the middle of the night. Lego itself was a wonderful product of revenge. She'd love to see him trying to navigate around the stuff in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Aimee stifled a laugh as she thought about it then her conscience pricked at her making her sad. She didn't hate Gibbs. In fact, she actually liked him…and not just a little. She might have actually allowed herself to love him but somehow she just couldn't allow herself to completely trust him.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she thought about how upset and angry he'd been with her earlier. She hadn't meant to talk back to him and be rude. It had just kind of slipped out. He never seemed to understand her. He just went straight to mad. She licked her lips thinking about how he'd asked her if she wanted him to be her dad. It had felt like such a wonderful relief. Broadview was horrid. The adults were mean and no one listened to her. And the thought of not being able to be with her sister anymore was paralysing. Gibbs was different. He wasn't like most dads she known. He did super cool things like cooked steak over the fireplace. They would stay up late and look at constellations through the telescope in his bedroom. They ate ice cream out of little containers and watched black and white movies on television.

But then he'd hit her. Hard. And it hadn't been the first time. Her mom never hit her. Jonathan had smacked her a lot. He broke bones. Left bruises. Aimee promised herself that she wouldn't let anyone hit her again. Then Gibbs entered her life. He wasn't like Jonathan had been. Gibbs seemed to care about her. Aimee felt a tear trickle down her cheek and she stubbornly swiped it away. It was too dangerous to let adults too close. All they did was confuse her. Gibbs had no right to hit her, and she wasn't ever going to forgive him.

She continued feeling her way around in the dark, hoping to find the light switch. She'd managed to take the stairs everywhere in the building, hoping not to run into Gibbs in his office. It hadn't taken Aimee long to discover how often Gibbs used the elevator to have conferences with his agents. Aimee held her hands out and pushed through a doorway. She had no idea where she was. She felt around the walls and found a light switch. She attempted to switch it on but nothing happened. The building was having more and more trouble with its electricity. Aimee had attempted to leave the building earlier and might have been successful if Agent Braddock hadn't seen her. All the security monitors were offline so it would have been easy. She smiled to herself when she thought of the nice little bruise she left on the agent's shin for his interference in her attempted escape. She figured Braddock didn't like her one little bit anyway and the feeling was mutual. He'd threatened to report her to Gibbs which put him on her most hated list.

Aimee narrowed her eyes, trying to see around her. She slipped her back down the wall to her knees and felt around with her hands. Besides her ripped up math pages, she couldn't feel anything immediately around her. She started crawling hoping to figure out where she was. A bright light found her and she blinked, temporarily blinded by it.

"Aimee?" Jimmy looked startled. "What on earth are you doing down here?"

Aimee rose to her feet, relieved to be able to see once again. "Hey, Jimmy. I'm looking for something."

Jimmy smiled. "Well, you shouldn't be wandering around down here by yourself. We've lost power to the entire basement and lower floors."

Aimee's eyes widened. "What about Ducky's friends?"

Jimmy sobered. "Dr. Mallard is not happy, I'm afraid. He's gone upstairs to trying to get things back up and running." Jimmy shone the light around the room, and Aimee realised where she was. "What did you lose?"

"Never mind, it's not important. Is Ducky making you clean out all the other drawers?"

"Goodness, no. I'm heading home now. Just came down to get my keys." Jimmy walked towards the far door at the back of the room. "How'd you get down to Autopsy anyway? The elevators are out."

Aimee shrugged. Up until Jimmy had shone the light on the room, she hadn't known she was in Autopsy. She'd been having fun playing with cushions on the fire well stairs until the power went out. She thought the auxiliary lights would come one but they hadn't.

"Agent Gibbs wouldn't be happy to see you down here."

"I don't care what Gibbs says!" Aimee snapped.

Jimmy grabbed his keys and jacket and looked at Aimee with compassion. "Aw, honey, I'm so sorry Agent Gibbs lost his temper earlier. But you should try and cut him some slack; I think you scared him half to death by hiding in the morgue drawers. He's kinda new at being a dad, you know."

Aimee crossed her arms in front of her chest, still angry with Gibbs. "It was just supposed to be a joke, Jimmy. I wedged something in the opening so it wouldn't close all the way. Gibbs treats me like I'm a baby _." My knife,_ she thought _. I left it in the drawer._ A smile crept to her face when she remembered.

Jimmy adjusted his flashlight in his hand. "Still, it wasn't a smart idea. Promise me you won't do that again. I know a smart girl like you could think up a thousand different practical jokes to play on me."

Aimee's smile grew bigger and she dropped her hands to her sides. "You better believe it!"

Jimmy laughed. "I do. C'mon, I'll walk you back upstairs. I'm sure Gibbs must be looking for you by now. I seem to remember him telling you to sit at his desk and wait for him."

Aimee rolled her eyes and took a few steps back. "It's okay, Jimmy, I can find my own way back. I just remembered where I put it." Aimee made sure she was cryptic about the knife. She liked Jimmy a lot but she didn't want to risk him telling Gibbs she had his jack knife.

Jimmy shook his head. "Put what?"

"You go ahead," she said ignoring his question.

"Aimee, forget it, I'm not leaving you alone down here. Go on; get it and I'll grab my briefcase." Jimmy left his flashlight on one of the tables, standing up so it would illuminate the entire room somewhat and walked towards the back room.

Aimee sighed in annoyance. It was obvious she wasn't going to be able to get rid of Jimmy so easily, and she didn't want to retrieve her knife with him watching. She chewed her lip and stared at the morgue drawers. Which one had she been lying in? They all looked the same in the shadows of the flashlight. She grumbled under her breath. If Gibbs hadn't snatched her out so quickly, she might have thought to grab her knife. On impulse, Aimee grabbed the flashlight and switched it off. She then dropped to her hands and knees and crawled into the darkness of the room. Maybe if she was quiet enough Jimmy would think she left with the flashlight and he'd leave too.

"Aimee, what happened to the light?" called Jimmy into the darkness.

Aimee kept crawling until she reached the far back wall, being as quiet as she could.

"Aimee!" Jimmy's voice became louder and more impatient sounding. "This isn't the time for practical jokes. It's getting late and everyone is going home. I promise to play with you more tomorrow."

Aimee heard him stumbling around the room, bumping into things.

"C'mon, honey, switch the flashlight back on, please. Agent Gibbs and Dr. Mallard will both wonder where we went."

Aimee chewed her lip, feeling a little guilty, but also amused. She hadn't actually intended for it to be a practical joke but now that she sat in the darkness listening to Jimmy stumble around, it did strike her as humorous. She hoped that Jimmy would give up quickly and leave. She imagined he would seek out another light and come looking for her soon enough but that would give her plenty of time to find her jackknife and leave the room.

"Aimee Percy," Jimmy's voice sounded strangely parental this time and Aimee didn't like the sound of it. "This isn't funny. If you don't come out right now, I will be forced to tell Agent Gibbs you're playing down here without his permission."

Aimee scowled in the darkness, her smile fading away. Jimmy had no right to tattle tale. He was supposed to be her friend. She crammed the flashlight behind her back and pulled her knees up to her chin. She just needed to wait quietly until he left. At least now she'd have a light to find her knife. It would make things much simpler.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs scowled as he listened to Agent Braddock's rant over Aimee. He tried his best to offer the man a sincere apology on Aimee's behalf. He didn't like that the girl kept lashing out at people. It seemed that her first response to anyone forcing her to do something she didn't like was to hurt them. It was concerning. And certainly not a normal response from a child, but with Aimee, he wasn't sure what was normal. The nine-year-old had been through so much in her short life and he knew so little about her. She had big emotions and everything in her life seemed bigger than life.

"I've got a couple of kids, myself, Gibbs. I'm no stranger to it," continued Braddock.

Gibbs felt his face heat up realising he hadn't been listening to a word the agent in front of him was saying.

"To what?"

"Disciplining them."

Gibbs forced himself to breathe deeply. Suddenly everyone was a professional parent but him. He'd run into at least five agents already with parenting suggestions for him.

"I heard what happened in Autopsy, and I don't think you should beat yourself up over it. I think I'd have done the same thing if it'd been my kid. Must have scared the bejeebers out of you."

Gibbs' brow rose. "How'd you hear?"

"Scuttlebutt, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs scowled. "This is NCIS, not the damned marines."

Braddock shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, I'm heading home. Security is still out but I'm still fairly certain Aimee didn't get past us today. Jones and Caraway are on duty tonight."

Gibbs puffed out his cheeks and began to walk back towards the elevators, not bothering to say anything else to Braddock. In all the years he'd worked at NCIS, he'd never seen things so upside down. All the security cameras were out. The elevators were malfunctioning. Lights and electrical systems had gone haywire. People were taking the stairs to get out of the building and reporting that even the axillary lighting was out.

"What the hell is going on in this place?" he muttered under his breath.

Of all the times for Aimee to go missing. People were running around everywhere and were exiting the building like a herd of animals. Not to mention it was Friday night of a long weekend.

"Gibbs!" said a voice from behind him.

Gibbs turned on his heel to see Ziva walking towards him carrying what looked like cushions from the sofas in Jenny's office.

"I found these on the stairs," she said. Then she held up a comic book and a mp3 player. "I found this as well."

Gibbs took the book and mp3 player. He recognised it as the one Tim had given Aimee earlier in the week. Tim had loaded it with a bunch of music and audio books that he thought she might like to help pass the time when she was at NCIS.

"Where'd ya find it?"

Ziva tucked her hair behind her ears. "Fourth floor. It looked like she had made herself a little reading fort, but it was abandoned when I found it."

"Damn it. Where is that kid? It's been over an hour and I've search parts of NCIS I didn't even know existed until today."

Ziva looked sympathetic. "She will turn up, Gibbs. Do not worry."

Gibbs managed a smile, reaching out to cup her chin in his hands. "Thanks, kid."

"Boss!"

Gibbs and Ziva both turned around as Tony ran up to them out of breath.

Gibbs felt his heart rate pick up a notch when he saw Tony's face. It was white.

"Boss, McGee just got this message in MTAC before the whole system blew up in his face. It's Chip Sterling and he wants Abby."

Gibbs felt his blood run cold as Tony handed him a piece of paper. Gibbs read it as all colour drained from his face. Chip Sterling had once been Abby's lab assistant years ago. He'd attempted to frame Tony for murder. The legacy the guy left behind had haunted them all for a very long time.

"The fire sprinklers aren't working. I called 911."

"Tim?"

Tony bit his lip. "He sustained some minor burns but I think he's fine. Abby is with him."

Gibbs looked down at the message again. He felt his pulse racing in his throat. Aimee was missing. Tim was injured. NCIS was in chaos with systems malfunctioning all over the building. Just what the hell was going on? Chip Sterling was supposed to be behind bars. No one had alerted him that the man had been paroled or escaped. What did he want with Abby? Gibbs forced himself to stay calm. It looked like he was in for one hell of a night.

 _ **A/N Oh, dear. Aimee is missing. NCIS is in utter chaos and an old villain of Tony and Abby's is wreaking havoc on things. How did I think this story would be short? Sometimes the story takes over on me...oh, well LOL We'll see. :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

Ducky walked through the double doors of autopsy and shined his flashlight around the room with an irritated sigh. Four hours had gone by since he first noticed the refrigeration units were on the blink. After making his concerns known, he'd been sent on his way and told to go home. He was told repairs would be made as soon as possible. No sooner and no later and certainly not any faster with him nagging at them. Of course, no one released how much was at stake and how quickly evidence could be compromised if bodies were left to decompose for long. It could make all the difference in solving a case.

Ducky frowned when he noticed several of the lower mortuary drawers were ajar. It only served to make him crosser, grumbling under his breath in frustration. It was bad enough the power was unpredictable but seeing the drawers carelessly left open made Ducky's Scottish temper bubble to the surface.

"Mr. Palmer," he grouched into the empty room." How could you be so careless? Young people today have no discipline."

He continued grumbling as he made his way to the back of the room. With diminished hope, he stuck his hand inside one of the drawers out of curiosity and was pleasantly surprised to find that the refrigeration seemed to be working again. The upper drawers were positive temperature drawers, used for storing bodies still yet to be autopsied and were kept between 2 °C (36 °F) and 4 °C (39 °F). The lower drawers were negative temperature drawers used to store bodies awaiting identification and burial by family members. They were kept at a colder temperature between −10 °C (14 °F) and −50 °C (−58 °F).

"Dr. Mallard?" said Jimmy coming into the room with his flashlight shining bright, surprised to see the man but hopeful. "Have you made any headway finding out what happened to the power?"

Ducky turned to the door way, feeling his heart jump a little from being startled.

"No, Mr. Palmer, no one seems to have any idea what has happened. Things have gone awry all over the building."

Ducky scowled sternly at Jimmy, still reflecting on the open drawers.

The younger man grinned, oblivious to the silent scolding tossed in his direction. "You didn't happen to see Aimee when you came in, did you?"

Ducky closed the open drawers firmly, making an obvious show of it, and latched the locks. "No, Mr. Palmer. The good news is that it seems like the refrigeration is back online. I'm relieved to know that."

Jimmy walked to the back of the room with a smile. "That is good news, Doctor."

Ducky opened an upper drawer to inspect the corpse awaiting autopsy and frowned again.

"Well, that's odd." A grim expression framed his face. "It seemed like the lower units are in operation and the upper units are now malfunctioning."

Jimmy frowned in concern. "Shall I move our guests?"

Ducky shook his head. "I don't think we better, Mr. Palmer. Who knows exactly how long we're going to have this problem. For now, the lower units will keep our upper guests comfortable as long as no one disturbs them." Ducky then frowned at Jimmy. "Why on earth would you leave the lower drawers open?"

Jimmy looked taken aback. "I didn't, Dr, Mallard." Then frowning, he said, "Perhaps Aimee did."

"Aimee?"

"I was here earlier gathering my belongings for the day, and I found her searching for something. The little monkey doused the light on me so I had to go find another light and come back."

Ducky chuckled. "Really, Mr. Palmer, are you not capable of keeping abreast with a nine-year-old child?"

Jimmy smirked. "Apparently not. Agent Gibbs certainly has his hands full."

"Indeed he does. Well, I haven't seen the little lassie here so let's lock up and call it a day. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring us better news. I don't like being so far behind on my autopsies. We'll need to step up our game in order to catch up on our work load."

Jimmy smiled warmly at the elderly M.E. "Of course, Dr. Mallard."

The two men grabbed their belongings and left the room. As they began to walk to the emergency stairway, Ducky sighed abruptly. "Did you happen to mention to Jethro that you saw the little tyke in autopsy again? He was looking for her earlier before things starting going askew?"

Jimmy pulled his jacket on. "I looked for him earlier but things are chaotic upstairs so I sent him a text. I'm sure he'll read it when he has some time."

Ducky nodded. "I wouldn't hold my breath. I'm afraid that Agent Gibbs has quite the aversion to technology, but maybe it's for the best. His hands are full at the moment."

"Shall I tell him in person?"

Ducky waved a hand. "No, no, my dear boy, I don't think that will be necessary. It would likely only upset him more if he knew. It's probably best for young Aimee if he didn't know just now. "

Jimmy nodded in agreement. The two men finished their ascent and left the building for the evening.

Back in Autopsy, Aimee let out a deep breath of relief. When she'd heard Jimmy and Ducky talking, she thought they'd catch her. She had made herself very small and quiet in hopes she wouldn't be seen. Rolling onto her side, she patted her pant pocket and a smile flooded her face. She'd found the jack knife and no one was the wiser for it. She began to feel around her for a way to get out.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Abby sniffled and wiped tears away as paramedics lifted Timothy McGee onto a gurney. The female medic inserted an IV into his left arm and again reassured Abby that Tim would be fine.

"It's just a precaution, Miss Sciuto. Burns have the propensity to get infected quickly. We just want to keep on top of things."

Tim reached out and patted Abby's hand. "Don't worry, Abby. I'm fine. Really. I could walk on my own if they'd just…" Tim attempted to sit up again only to be pushed back down by Abby. "… let me sit up." He frowned at her, looking and feeling miserable.

"Lay still, Timmy," cried Abby, holding him down.

At that moment, Gibbs and Tony burst into MTAC and took in the damage of the room as well as McGee. The young man continued to fight with the medic and Abby as he was being strapped in for safe removal.

Tim and Gibbs made eye contact. "Boss! Somehow Sterling broke through our firewalls…" rambled Tim, again attempting to sit up.

Gibbs rushed to Tim's side and was nearly knocked on his butt when Abby launched herself into his arms, sobbing and trembling. Gibbs wrapped his arms around his Goth girl and looked at Tim in concern.

"You okay, Tim?"

McGee nodded, looking sheepishly at his boss. "I'm sorry, Boss. I should have cut the transmission when I realised it wasn't a verified source. We were talking with several CO's in…"

Gibbs reached out and set a heavy hand on Tim's shoulder to keep him laying down. "Just relax, Tim," he reassured. Abby sniffled again in his ear, and he kept one arm around her tiny waist.

Tony walked up and smiled in a teasing way that only he could muster up under the circumstances. "Gee, Probie, if you were so tired, you could have just checked out for the night."

Abby's mouth dropped. "Tony," she punched his arm. "Timmy almost did check out." She glared at Tiny with tears running down her cheeks.

The medic hung the IV tube and covered Tim with a light blanket.

"He'll be fine."

Tony, Abby, and Gibbs stood stock-still and stoic as the medics wheeled Tim and another injured technician from the room. As soon as they were alone, Gibbs took a deep breath to calm himself down. He inspected the ruins of the room and shook his head. Another technician was seated surveying the damage silently. MTAC always had two technicians on duty at all times.

"This is my fault," cried Abby suddenly pulling away from Gibbs and spinning in circles looking at the blown up computers and screens.

Gibbs frowned. "How do you figure?"

"I should have just let it go. Tony was exonerated, Gibbs, but I just had to keep pushing. We'd already caught Stewart but my pride just wouldn't allow me to believe a low down drunk like him could have outsmarted me." Abby lifted her hands and began nervously banging her knuckles together anxiously, a habit Gibbs recognised and understood. Abby was distraught.

Tony furrowed his brow. "Abbs, you were right to second guess things. Chip Sterling framed me for murder, for crying out loud. You're my hero." Tony attempted to reach out towards Abby to comfort her but the Goth took several steps away from him. "Abby, who knows, if you hadn't brought the guy down, he could still be wreaking havoc in your lab."

"That's just it, Tony; he still is! If I hadn't have made him so mad then maybe he wouldn't be targeting NCIS."

Abby blinked back tears and began to pace back and forth muttering to herself. Gibbs stepped forward and wrapped her in another protective hug. Thankfully Abby didn't fight him but melted into the embrace. Gibbs' mind was spinning in so many directions. His gut was aching with worry, wondering where Aimee had run off too and now, he was worried about Abby too. He wasn't a man of many words, and he couldn't seem to find the words to reassure her.

"Agent Gibbs," said the technician suddenly interrupting his thoughts. "It's a virus, sir."

Gibbs frowned and released Abby, nodding towards Tony to follow him.

"A virus?"

"Yes, sir. See…" The technician turned the only working computer left in the room to face them. "Someone fed this program into the central computer at 0:1:00 hours this afternoon." The technician pointed out the program with his finger. "It began attacking the mainframe slowly as the day wore on, taking out the fridges in autopsy and spreading on up throughout the floors ending with everything here in MTAC. The virus was meant to mutate and continue its ascent but somehow, when Agent McGee intercepted that transmission from Sterling, the system overloaded."

Gibbs clenched his jaw.

Tony stepped forward. "No way Chippy-boy could have hacked into NCIS's mainframe, Boss. He wouldn't have the smarts to break past our security firewalls."

"You think it's an insider, DiNozzo?"

Tony chewed his lip not sure how to answer the question. Everyone was still reeling from Brody's treachery and deceit at the Bureau. No one wanted to think they'd have someone out to get them inside NCIS.

Abby stood quietly behind them, still trembling and blaming herself for Tim's injuries.

Gibbs crossed his arms and began to pace. He forced his mind to remember everything he knew about Charles Sterling. The guy had a vendetta against Tony for getting him fired when Tony worked at Baltimore PD. Sterling might have been a sharp forensic guy but Gibbs doubted the guy had the smarts to shut down NCIS. And to what end? Vengeance against Abby? How did that make sense? Gibbs pulled out the note that Tony had given him. McGee had managed to screen cap a copy of the voice to text conversation stating that Chip wanted Abby to suffer for sending him to jail.

"It's my fault, Gibbs."

Gibbs spun on his heel. "Stop that, Abbs. It's not your fault. C'mere." He beckoned her to his side, and Abby shuffled closer looking guilty and spooked at the same time. Gibbs wrapped a protective arm around her. "This is not your fault." He said again louder and almost stern.

Abby nodded, chewing on her lip.

Gibbs pinched his nose as he pulled away. "We've got people working on getting things back online. Security has been doubled. That's all we can do. Right now, I need to focus on finding Aimee. Once I know her whereabouts and things get cleaned out, we'll concentrate on nailing Sterling and figuring this out."

"Good plan, Boss," agreed Tony, but his face looked uncertain.

"Tony, I want you to set up round the clock protection for Abby in the meantime."

Abby groaned. "Gibbs, I don't need…"

"Abby." His sharp tone caused Abby to stop mid-sentence.

Abby blinked and nodded.

"On it, Boss."

"Now, help me find Aimee."

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Twenty minutes later, Gibbs, Ziva, and Tony stood in the bullpen piecing together Aimee's wanderings patterns using the surveillance cameras around the building. It wasn't an easy task with most of the security systems still offline. The virus had done a lot of damage but security teams and computer technicians were quickly rectifying things. The mainframe had been wiped, rebooted and reloaded with the most recent backup information. NCIS's technicians were some of the best in the business, professional and thorough. They had to be when some of country's top military secrets were at stake. Next to the FBI and the CIA, NCIS was pivotal in what they did. Security was nearly impenetrable.

Gibbs' head pounded as the main screen in the bullpen sputtered to life. He hated technology on the best of days but seeing the computers raised from the dead gave him some hope. It would be easier to trace Aimee's steps.

"This would be much easier if McGeek hadn't gotten himself blown up," muttered Tony under his breath.

Ziva rolled her eyes and stood to her feet. "As far as I can make out from the security footage, Aimee has not left the building, Gibbs."

Gibbs looked up from his computer. All of them had been desperately scanning security footage trying to piece together where Aimee had gone once she'd left Autopsy after their altercation.

"She did sit at your desk like you asked, Boss…" Tony said displaying footage on the main screen of the youngster sitting at Gibbs' desk.

Gibbs groaned as he watched the girl making her honorarium for him in full colour on the screen.

Tony grimaced. "I'm gonna need to look that word up."

Gibbs stood to his feet and came around his desk. His hand was poised to smack DiNozzo but the younger man ducked in anticipation. Gibbs dropped his hand to his side. He wasn't irritated or upset with Tony in truth. The cheeky sense of humour of his protégé kept things light and he needed that. The longer Aimee was missing, the more worried he became.

Fast forwarding the footage showed that the girl had stayed put at his desk for 45 minutes making Gibbs feel extremely guilty.

"Damn it. I should have spoken with her right away instead of leaving her alone so long."

"You could not have known, Gibbs," assured Ziva with compassion in her voice.

The compassion only served to make Gibbs feel worse.

"So where'd she go next?"

Tony popped up a new image on the screen. It was approximately 45 minutes later when Aimee was seen kicking Braddock quite proficiently in the shin.

"Ouch, that had to have hurt," grimaced Tony, wincing at the scene playing out on the screen.

Gibbs winced too. He really needed to remedy Aimee's temper. She had a way of lashing out at other adults including him when she was stopped from doing what she wanted. He still hadn't figured out how he was going to control that instinct in Aimee. The youngster was used to standing up for herself and he didn't want to stifle that bold independence, just rein it in a little.

They watched as Braddock did his best to refocus the girl and send her on her way. Gibbs puffed out his cheeks and exhaled hard as he watched. Aimee looked angry. He did appreciate how patient Braddock seemed to be with Aimee despite how hard she had kicked the man. The guy was sure to have a bruise.

"Things get a little dicey after that, Boss. The virus seemed to peak around 3 pm and our footage of Aimee is scattered after that."

Ziva nodded in agreement. More footage was brought up but it was broken and the time stamp was unreadable.

"Looks like she made an appearance in Director Shepard's office as well as the cafeteria. Some footage of her on the emergency stair wells…"

Gibbs' jaw dropped. "What the hell is she doing?"

Tony came forward and looked at Gibbs with an odd expression. "You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding, DiNozzo?"

Tony sobered while still staring at his Boss in disbelief. "Were you ever a kid, Boss?"

Gibbs scowled.

"She's pillow surfing. You know, you take some sofa cushions, sit on them and toboggan down the stairs. Hell of a lot of fun! Used to do it all the time when I was a kid."

Gibbs had a blank look on his face.

Tony absentmindedly rubbed the back of his pants as he reminisced. "Hurts the butt though, especially if the cushions aren't thick enough…" He grimaced in his day dream. "… and those stairs aren't even carpeted. Kid must have one tough caboose."

Gibbs clenched his jaw. "We'll see how tough her caboose is when I get my hands on her," he grumbled under his breath.

Tony gulped but remained quiet.

Ziva tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "That's all I can find of Aimee on the security cameras, Gibbs." She doubled checked her computer for a moment before popping one more scene up on the screen. "Wait…there is one more of her with Jimmy in Autopsy I think…"

The three agents narrowed their eyes and tried to spot Aimee in the darkness of the footage.

"Power must have been out completely but it's definitely their voices."

Gibbs rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. "Where's Palmer?"

"Ducky and Palmer checked out around 5 pm, Boss. Both gone home for the night," said Tony, double checking his times on his screen.

"Get me Palmer on the phone."

"On it, Boss."


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N Hello Readers!**_

 _ **Summer is flying fast!**_

 _ **Not sure if many of you are reading along or not...but I hope you enjoy.**_

Aimee shivered. She rubbed her hands together and then pulled them to her lips to blow on them. It had gotten a lot colder than she'd expected. She looked around her and could only see blackness. Rolling onto her back once more she felt around in the darkness, hoping to find a way out that she'd missed. But it was no use. There wasn't a way out. Fighting the cold and an overwhelming feeling of fatigue, she yawned in the pitch blackness.

She slipped her hand back into her pocket and pulled out the Swiss army knife, opening it carefully so she wouldn't slice her fingers. The blade was sharp. She had been delighted to find it. The first thing she'd done was feel how sharp the blade was. One time an officer on base had given her one dulled down. She remembered feeling so mature carrying it around until her mother took it away telling her she was too young and that it wasn't safe. Aimee reached out and started poking at the area above her with the knife. She didn't hold out much hope that it would do any good. She just wanted to keep herself busy so she wouldn't panic. She felt hot tears burn her cheeks.

"Jimmy! Ducky! Can you hear me?" she finally called out into the silence of the room. She was getting really cold now and suddenly keeping the knife a secret didn't matter anymore. She didn't care if Gibbs got mad at her now. She kind of missed him.

She banged her knife against the wall beside her. It made a dull clinking noise.

"Help me!"

Her bottom lip trembled and more tears clambered down her cheeks. She shivered again and wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. Everything felt so cold. Aimee rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball for warmth. She yawned again feeling more and more sleepy as she laid there.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs hung up the phone with Jimmy, his face flushed. His emotions were turbulent at best, oscillating like a pendulum. He was worried, then irritated, then angry, then annoyed and then worried all over again. Jimmy had informed him of Aimee being in Autopsy once again, apparently searching for something she'd lost. Jimmy had assured him that he and Ducky had done a thorough search before leaving and locking up for the night. Not that they could lock up since all the security locks were offline when they left. Gibbs rested his head on his desk for a moment deliberating his next move. The kid couldn't have just disappeared into thin air. She had to be hiding somewhere. His conscience was berating him, and he couldn't seem to catch a break from it.

Tony walked in holding a coffee and set it down on Gibbs desk.

"What did Palmer have to say?"

"He saw her. She played another damned practical joke on him and stole his flashlight. When he got back, she was gone again."

Tony frowned. "Damn."

Gibbs sat up straight, stretching out his back and gratefully reaching for the hot coffee "Where's Abbs?"

"She's in her lab seeing if her babies are back online yet."

"She should be heading home. It's late." Gibbs glanced at his watch. "Logan took Janessa home for me and offered to stay as long as we needed her. Poor Nessie was starving to death."

Tony smirked. "She must have a hollow leg. She can eat like a 40-year-old man yet she mustn't weigh more than 40 pounds soak and wet."

Gibbs stood to his feet, distraction written on over his face. "38 pounds. Ducky says she's underweight for her age."

Tony smile faded away. "We're going to find Aimee, Gibbs." Tony put a comforting hand on the older man's shoulder.

"We've scoured the whole place. Got agents and security personnel looking out for her in every nook and cranny. Where the hell can she be?"

"You know kids, Boss. They love a good game of hide and seek. We just need to think like a kid. You know, embrace your inner child?" Tony saw Gibbs deadpan face. "Okay, then, I will embrace my inner child."

Gibbs raised his brow. "Inner child?"

Tony smirked then looked chagrined, an idea popping in his head. "What about the evidence garage? Do you suppose she might have got locked in a trunk or something, maybe fallen asleep?"

Gibbs lifted a brow, hope anew. Immediately he was on his feet and heading towards the stairs. "With me, DiNozzo!"

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Abby checked all the hiding spots in her lab carefully twice, the first time looking for Aimee and the second time looking for Chip. She told herself she was being thorough but she knew she was being paranoid as well. She still had nightmares of him coming at her with a knife. The last time she'd barely escaped with her life. She had been lucky. Chip was clumsy and partly neurotic. She'd managed to trip him and get the upper ground but it had been close. She wasn't a superhero. That's was Gibbs' job, to sweep in at the last minute and save the day. Only how many last minutes did the man have in him? He was so preoccupied with being a dad now.

Abby checked her equipment trying to keep her mind from going in that direction. Jealousy wasn't becoming to anyone. And she was an adult. Aimee was a child. She deserved her time to be little. Abby had had great parents and an awesome childhood. Her mother, Gloria, had been a free range parent and that worked well for her. Abby had been a free range kid. Heck, she was a free range adult. Only that didn't always mesh with Gibbs. Gibbs was definitely not free range in any way, shape or form. For all intents and purposes, Abby shouldn't even want anything to do with someone who was so chauvinist, except a part of Abby craved that kind of relationship which made life very disconcerting. It was like being caught up in an internal war with herself that she would never win.

Abby walked through the glass doors once more and sat at her computer, somewhat staring into space and reflecting on the past couple of months. Things had been really tough. Being reprimanded by NCIS and formally suspected had been hard to swallow. Gibbs had been a real friend to her through the whole ordeal and it was so nice to be back at work. It was just things were so different now with the girls in Gibbs life. Not that Gibbs still didn't treat her like his daughter. He did. He even was a little too paternal sometimes; especially since he'd gotten into his head that lowered Gibbs' smacks were a perfect alternative for her when he was displeased. She wasn't keen on those at all. She was still working up the courage to have a chat with him about that. He didn't anticipate him seeing eye to eye with her on it though.

Abby sighed and leaned her chin on her hands. She tried to think of other places she'd seen Aimee hanging out. NCIS was a large building with a lot of places to hide. She should know. She'd found a few places herself throughout the years when she didn't want to talk to anyone.

The sound of shattering glass made Abby bolt out of her chair.

"What the…"

Abby rushed out of her office into the lab area and stood gaping at the windows directly above. One of the windows was completely shattered which should have been impossible. The windows were supposed to be secure and impenetrable. After what happened with Mikel years ago, Gibbs had made sure her windows were safe and bullet proof even. Of course, Abby knew there was no such thing. Bullet resistant maybe but not bullet proof. There really wasn't much of anything that was completely impassable.

Abby stared up at the broken glass in disbelief.

"Hello, Abby."

The familiar voice sent shivers down her spine as she spun around on her heel coming face to face with someone she never thought she'd see again.

"I thought…" she sputtered, feeling so taken aback that she was struggling to come back from her shock.

The thin, dark haired man smiled brazenly at her, pacing with his hands behind his back.

"Yah, I know what you thought. That's the beauty of it, really. Gibbs and the rest of your watch dogs will all think the same. Of course, they are all really busy trying to figure out what the hell is going on with the security. Amazing what a person can do with a couple of spare weeks here."

Abby gulped remembering all the time she had spent with the man. She had even started to like him.

"H-how?" she managed, finding her tongue.

The well-dressed man smiled. "It was simple really. You told me so much about your previous lab assistant that it made it very easy. I have my sources."

"You won't get away with it…"

He stopped pacing and smiled menacingly at her. "Oh, Abby, you have no idea what I can get away with. This building has no security, no eyes anywhere and the monitoring that is working, well, it's sketchy at best. Trust me, my virus runs deep. Even that MIT idiot won't be able to find it."

He took a few menacing steps towards Abby.

Abby moved away, searching for a way to escape.

"You made life very complicated for me and it should have been very simple. I had enough money to live a very posh lifestyle, but you just had to stick your nose in where it didn't belong."

"You murdered a marine!" Abby felt anger bubbling to the service. Her eyes continued searching around her. Her lab was her sanctuary and that gave her the upper hand.

The man shrugged. "Yah, that does make me unpredictable, doesn't it?" He smiled again. "But, that's neither here nor there. What counts is now, I'd say."

He circled her and stared at her. It made Abby feel like she was being appraised at some kind of meat market.

"You do realise Gibbs will figure this out."

"I know."

Abby blinked. "You know?"

"Yup."

He crossed his arms and moved closer, causing Abby to back up further. She was getting closer to her office once again.

"You see, I've left enough clues to lead him in the exact direction I want him to go. Chip Sterling was a pretty disturbed guy. Did you know he killed himself?"

Abby's eyes widened.

"It was a terrible shame. Waste of such a smart man."

Abby shivered and again took several steps backward.

The man moved closer.

"Rinnert!" Abby said his name in exasperation.

He grinned. "I'm glad you remember my name, at least. But, please, call me Fred."

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Aimee wiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to calm herself down. She'd already started to panic now, screaming, kicking and banging on the inside of her tomb. She kept thinking Gibbs was right. She shouldn't have been so dumb. She should have come out when Ducky and Jimmy were in the room.

"Gibbs," She whimpered. "Help me. Please. I promise I'll be good."

She held the jackknife up close to her face but she couldn't see it. It was pitch black dark. Darker than she thought dark could be. She opened the knife and grimaced when it sliced her finger. More tears streamed down her face and she angrily tossed the knife away from her towards her feet. She heard it hit the back of the drawer and bounce back, landing on at her feet. She kicked at it.

"I hate you!" She screamed into the darkness.

Her hands felt like ice on her face as she again scrubbed tears away. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed on the front of the drawer. Maybe Ducky didn't lock it. He said the drawers were broken but she was so cold. Why were they so cold if the fridges weren't working? She could smell cleaners in the small space. Jimmy had done a good job cleaning them. She reached out her hand and pushed harder. The door didn't budge. It felt like ice to her hand, in fact, the wetness on her hand made her fingers nearly stick to the metal. She yanked her hand away and whimpered. She remembered a Marine on base once reminding her not to stick her tongue of cold metal in the winter. One time her tongue got stuck on a red Popsicle and her mom had to run warm water over it. It had left a welt on her tongue that had stung for days after.

"Mommy…" Aimee trembled in the darkness. "Mommy!"

Aimee shut her eyes as tightly as she could, conjuring up an image of her mom in her head. The vision was hazy making her cry more. She shivered again. She could hardly remember what her mother's voice sounded like anymore.

"Aimee."

Aimee's eyes widened. Was that Gibbs voice she heard?

"Gibbs?"

"Aimee, where are you?"

"Gibbs, I'm here! I'm here!"

She sobbed.

"Aimee, answer me. Where are you?"

Aimee banged and kicked on the drawer, frantically trying to make as much noise as possible. Her lips were trembling and her whole body was shivering.

"GIBBS!" She screamed as loud as her voice would let her. She screamed until she was hoarse.

"Aimee, where are you?"

The voice softened in her ears and then became ghost-like, echoing in the drawer.

Aimee dropped her head into her arms, sobbing. Her throat burned. Why didn't he hear her? Why didn't he come? She covered her ears with her trembling hands; maybe he hated her now.


	6. Chapter 6

Gibbs leaned against the 2008 Hyundai in the evidence garage and felt a mixture of despair and anger. He and Tony had spent the better part of an hour searching vehicles and the evidence locker for any sign of Aimee and turned up empty handed. The power issue was slowly being rectified and security was coming back online.

The place was swamped with security and maintenance personnel all aware of Aimee's disappearance within the building. No one had seen the little girl but all eyes were open for signs of her. Gibbs was growing irritated of the reassurances. He wanted guarantees, not empty promises. And he didn't like waiting. He didn't like being left in the dark. Gibbs looked up as the lights in the room flickered several times and went out again. He didn't like that kind of dark either. He groaned at his own inner musings. His irritation extended beyond others but included his own lack of ideas. The elevator doors dinged and opened and Gibbs was surprised to see Jenny walk off and into the room.

"Are you nuts, Jenn?"

She scowled at him as she approached him. "Hello to you too, Jethro."

He returned the scowl. "The power has gone haywire and you're thinking it's a good idea to use the elevators?"

"For your information, the lifts are all back online and in perfect working order." She frowned at him.

"Still won't find me using them until they get everything back online."

Jenny looked around the room as the lights flickered again and came back on. A smug smile adorned her face but it only served to make Gibbs more irritable.

"It's like a damned lightning show in here." Gibbs began pacing again.

Jenny walked around the room and turned to see Tony approaching them with an equally grim scowl on his face. There was no doubt how much this was wearing thin on everyone. The power outage and explosion in MTAC had only served to make an already upsetting situation worse.

"No sign of her, Boss." Tony ran a worried hand through his dark hair. Worry lines had formed on his forehead. "This is getting ridiculous! Where on earth could she have gone? She can't simply disappear into thin air."

"Can't your inner child figure it out, DiNozzo?" Gibbs' voice held a lingering tone of sarcasm that he might have dialed back if he hadn't have been so worried himself.

Tony frowned but remained silent. It seemed like everyone had lost their sense of humour.

Jenny tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Ziva and I scouted everywhere we could think of. There is no sign of her anywhere. Jethro, I think we should call in the local police and child services. This is getting serious, especially in light of MTAC being attacked. What if Sterling has taken Aimee hostage or something…"

"You don't think I haven't thought of that, Jenn!" Gibbs felt his temper flare. "I just don't want to do that unless I have to." He hesitated a moment before adding softly, "My gut tells me she's in trouble, Jenn." His eyes held Jenny's for a few moments before he looked away. "Dammit! I don't think she'd purposely make this much trouble no matter how angry she is with me."

Jenny held her breath for several seconds waiting for Gibbs to finish.

"I'm going to start looking all over again. Retrace my steps. She's got to be hiding somewhere and when I find her…" His voice trailed off but his tone brooked no room for misunderstanding. Aimee was in deep trouble with him, far more than ever before. It was time he put his foot down and made some hard and fast rules.

Gibbs glared at Jenny for several seconds daring her to say something in return but when she didn't, he stalked off out the garage doors towards the parking lot. He needed air. As soon as the cool, autumn air hit his face, he felt some of the tension lift from his shoulders. He just needed to stay calm and keep his thoughts positive. Losing his temper and his attention to detail wouldn't help matters. Where the hell could the kid have gone? There was no way she left the facility. Security would have captured it and they'd been through all the footage several times.

"Does it help to be so brusque?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes but didn't turn around. Other than Abby and sometimes Ziva, no one else dared challenge his bastardly ways but Jennifer Shepard. If he wasn't so damned irritated, he'd find it amusing. Gibbs kept walking towards the front of the building, not trusting himself to speak civilly.

"Ignoring me isn't going to make me go away, you know."

"Speak your mind, Jenn. You don't need my permission." His voice sounded annoyed which he was but not at her. He didn't stop walking and she had to nearly run to keep in step with him.

"She's a child, Jethro. This is what kids do. They piss you off. It's quite literally in their job description. They don't fit tidily into your nine to five schedule, and they sure as hell don't take breaks for building boats and drinking bourbon either." Jenny knew it was a cheap shot but she wanted to get his goat. Gibbs was too good at going down with the ship. If he wouldn't willingly converse, she'd tick him off and make him talk.

Gibbs stopped walking and spun around. Jenny very nearly ran into him as she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What's your point, Jenn?"

She took a deep breath. "You can't go off like a heavy-handed bastard just because she's pissing you off."

"Don't tell me how to handle this!" He was almost shouting.

"Someone has too!"

Gibbs puffed out his cheeks and shook his head, almost chuckling. "I know what you're trying to do, Jenn, and it's not going to work."

"What am I trying to do?"

He glared at her but chose not to answer. They both knew she was egging him on to make him talk. "Damn it, I don't have time for this," he muttered raking a hand through his hair.

"It's not your fault, you know. No matter what happens, you need to believe that."

Gibbs heard the words but didn't believe them for a minute. He shouldn't have lost his temper, and he sure as hell shouldn't have smacked her. How he thought that would promote positive feelings and learning was beyond him. He should have pulled her aside and talked with her straight away instead of allowing himself to get angry and then sidetracked. And even more than that, he should have had someone with her at all times. Aimee shouldn't have been wandering on her own around NCIS. No one would be able to convince him otherwise.

"Kids do things for shock value, Gibbs. Look at Tony. He's in his thirties and he still does things that tick you off. So does Ziva and McGee and they're adults, for Pete's sake."

Gibbs stuck his hands in his pockets, remembering some wise advice his dad had given him once upon a time. It's a lot harder to argue and shout at someone if you can't use your hands. All at once his fingers found his knife. He always carried one. It was a rule he'd made for himself and his team. They were handy under the best of circumstances. He knew Aimee had absconded with his spare Swiss Army knife that he kept in his bedside drawer. He'd turned a blind eye to it because he knew she had a curious streak about her. He didn't feel that the knife was all that much to worry about. He was pretty sure he'd owned one around nine or ten himself. And besides that, he trusted her instincts. She might have been nine years old, but in some ways, she was much more mature than that. Or so he hoped. He also knew she'd been messing around in the basement again. He didn't like it one bit. But he was careful to only leave out what wouldn't harm her. He'd left out just the right cleaners for the knife, knowing how she thought. They were a lot alike and that sometimes made it easier to predict what she was going to do and what she was thinking. He'd planned to confront her eventually but hadn't had the opportunity.

"Jethro, are you even listening to me?"

"The knife." He muttered to himself.

His mind flashed back to when he'd yanked Aimee out of the morgue drawer. He'd been beyond pissed but he thought he remembered seeing his knife propping the drawer open.

Jenny furrowed her brow as she watched Gibbs pull his knife out of his pocket, turning the item over in his hand while he stared at it.

"What about your knife?" She said.

"Aimee took it."

Jenny didn't feel like she was following his train of thought. "Annnddd…" She drew out the word, hoping Gibbs would finish his thought.

No such luck.

Gibbs clutched the knife in his fist and took off running towards the front entrance.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Aimee grimaced as she once more tried to move her arm. It was asleep under her head. The darkness felt like it was swallowing her up. She couldn't seem to find the energy to move much anymore. Her head felt heavy whenever she tried to lift it up and for some reason, she couldn't understand, it hurt. At least she'd finally stopped shivering. It had been so violent for a while that she bit her lip and tasted blood. She didn't feel as cold anymore either which was a relief as well. Maybe the fridge had stopped working again.

Aimee found herself lying on her stomach with her cheek on her hand. She'd stopped crying and calling for help too. She knew Gibbs want her anymore and he wasn't coming for her. She'd heard him calling her name so often but he never seemed to answer her when she answered him.

"Gibbs has a boat in his basement," she mused, not really knowing why she was saying it out loud. "But no water. He needs water for a boat. How's he supposed to get it out of his basement and to water?"

She licked her lips and frowned. "Abby likes flowers. Black flowers that are not dead yet. Caf-Pows smell like candy but they are not for kids."

Aimee moved her leg slightly or she thought she did. She couldn't feel her feet anymore.

"6 plus 4 is 10, Gibbs. I like blue boats and red flowers. Tony hides socks in his top desk drawer. I don't think I have feet anymore." Aimee continued to mumble incoherent nonsense out loud. She lifted her hand and tried to touch it to her face, but felt nothing.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star, my daddy wants a motorcar…"

Aimee heard someone singing and touched her tongue to something warm that tasted metallic and salty. She rubbed her face against her hand feeling a warm sticky substance on her lip. If she hadn't have been so tired, she might have wondered where it had come from. Her eyes felt heavy so she closed them.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Abby clutched Bert in her arms as she watched Fred manhandle all her equipment in her lab. The man had made it clear that he had a plan that involved getting his money back. His idea was to keep NCIS busy enough with his virus while he worked his way back in undetected to take what was rightfully his. She hadn't dare move as she watched him use her NCIS access freely to do whatever he wanted. Her mind was whirling in a 100 different directions. She'd liked Fred Rinnert in the beginning. He'd been smart and didn't irritate her like others before him. Abby wasn't one to enjoy having an assistant at all. In fact, she did everything in her power to avoid it. When Rinnert came into the picture, she hadn't had a choice and she'd dealt with it with the utmost decorum. She hadn't even complained. What had really ticked her off, in the end, was the fact that she had let down her guard and trusted him. And he'd made her look like a fool.

"I've been planning this for so long; I almost forgot what a genius I am," Fred mumbled causing Abby to scowl at him. He smirked at her and kept imputing into her computer like he owned it. "You'd think in a place like NCIS that they'd run virus detectors more often. And I would have thought you'd have changed your password, Abby. Siouxsie Sioux is so blasé."

Abby chewed her lip. Changing her password wasn't something she'd thought of because most people did not know much about Goth music. The name was obscure and didn't even relate to anything in her life. It hadn't crossed her mind that Fred would have figured it out and changing passwords was a headache. She always forgot them.

"What's the plan, Fred?" Abby thought she'd cut to the chase and figure out what she was dealing with.

Fred smiled but didn't look at her as he busied himself with his work. "It's very simple actually. I'm going to get my money and you are my insurance policy. Once I arrive to my sunny destination, your services will no longer be needed. But don't worry your pretty little head, though. If you cooperate with me, I'll make sure your death is as painless as possible." This time he did turn to face her. "You're a Goth. I'm sure you must have a preference to the way you wish to die. Care to enlighten me?" His smile was eerie.

Abby shivered. She'd been kidnapped, held hostage at gunpoint, poisoned and too many other things to list. It was getting old. She'd had enough. And when it happened in her own space, without her knowledge and catching her completely off guard, well, it made her blood boil. Her eyes narrowed as she bore a hole into Rinnert's head. Things might have looked dismal, but Abby knew she was resourceful. Fred didn't know who she was or who he was dealing with. They were in her lab. Her own little den of iniquity. She hid a smile behind Bert. She had the power of the unexpected on her side. Fred might have planned his little exploit as thoroughly as possible, and he might even have been so cocky to think he had the upper hand. But he hadn't taken into account, Abby Sciuto. She wasn't some weak damsel in distress. She might have looked like a young girl. She might dress like a young girl. But, in her own habitat, Abby was dangerous.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs managed to make two calls while he ran. One to Ducky and one to the paramedics. If his hunch was correct, they wouldn't have much time to spare. His heart was dancing the tango in his chest and if it hadn't been for his rib cage encasing the organ, it would have plunged out of his chest. As he reached the stair well, he was met with a locked door much to his surprise and his chagrin.

"Sir, you can't go down there," said a voice as Gibbs attempted to break down the door.

Gibbs turned to see a uniformed security guard rushing to his side.

"We have corded off the area and no one is allowed in the lower floors."

Gibbs frowned. There were three levels below the Bullpen, autopsy being on the lowest level.

"I need to get to autopsy. I have reason to believe there is a child trapped…"

"Sir, I assure you, we have checked each and every level. There are no people on any of the lower levels."

Gibbs scowled. "I just came from the evidence garage!"

The man rolled his eyes like he was dealing with a child. "That is on the ground floor."

"So?"

"It wasn't necessary to check that area. The doors are open and guards can see everything that's happening in there. We already knew that several people were still working there."

Gibbs felt what was left of his patience fade away. "What about Forensics? My scientist is still there…"

The man shook his head. "She couldn't possibly be there, Sir. Everyone was escorted out and those lower levels secured. They will remain empty until we get everything back online."

Gibbs clenched his jaw. "Look Mr…" He looked closer at the guard's nametag on his uniform, making a mental note. "Spencer, Blake. I'm going down to autopsy and nothing _YOU_ say is going to stop me. Now back the hell off." Gibbs pushed past the man and kicked the door in. It clattered to the floor making the guard take a few steps backward. "My M.E. and the paramedics are coming and you better show them the way!"

"But, sir…"

"My name is Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs hit the young guard with a scathing look just daring him to interfere further before disappearing down the stairs leaving the man standing staring and wondering what had just happened.


	7. Chapter 7

Abby clutched Bert tightly in her arms as she watched Fred eagerly access his files. Abby glared at him and shook her head. The guy was unbelievably cocky. It was what was going to lead to his untimely demise. Not that Abby was going to kill him. She had no plans to harm him permanently. But she did have plans to make him suffer. It was just a matter of how badly she could make him suffer. And right now, his distracted arrogance ground on her nerves the most. He was so damned sure of himself. It was almost funny. There was no doubt the man was smart. Maybe even equalling Abby in intelligence but his knowledge of forensics and chemicals in a forensic lab was limited. Pretty much all that he had learned about it was from his stint under Abby's keen tutorial years ago. Abby highly doubted he would have spent much time brushing up on chemistry while in prison. Abby's lab wasn't the normal forensics laboratory either. She specialized in criminal investigation so her list of chemicals was long and deadly. Her lab could be locked down and chemicals contained in a matter of seconds. Safety protocols were stringent. Lives depended on it. And Abby knew her lab like the back of her hand.

"This couldn't get any easier," mumbled Fred, turning to look at Abby with a self-satisfied smile on his face. The smugness was nauseating. "Everything about the case and the money is all there in its black and white beauty. One thing I love about the military is how thorough they are." The man laughed. "It's like taking candy from a baby." He laughed again, ignoring Abby's scowl and turned to face the computer.

"All it's gonna take is a few taps of a button and I'll be able to transfer the money into a Swiss account, never to be traced again. It's just so damned easy. I just love NCIS and the DIA. Both are so thorough…every T crossed and every I dotted to precision. It's wonderful!"

The man continued to laugh and rave about NCIS' thoroughness while he concentrated his efforts on Abby's computer. Abby narrowed her eye as she began to make a mental ABC list of chemicals and which she could use with the least amount of damage to herself and the building. Power was still fluctuating and she couldn't be sure the right safety measures could be accessed. She didn't want to harm anyone else in the making of her chemical cocktail. A few would need to be contained quickly to avoid contamination of the entire building. The explosion in MTAC was already enough damage to contain and rectify. Abby blinked back tears as she thought of Tim in the hospital with multiple burns and lacerations. She forced herself to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Gibbs and the rest of the team would not be able to come to her aid this time. They had been led on a wild goose chase and it was up to her to get herself out of the mess. She was on her own.

For a few minutes, Abby did some mental telepathy…hoping to bring Gibbs running in her direction. Gibbs always seemed to know when she needed him. She could bank on it. Even times when she didn't even know she was in danger, Gibbs knew and came to her rescue. Tears pricked at her eyes and no matter how hard she tried to blink them away, they surfaced and ran down her warm cheeks. She tried to hide them in Bert's soft fur.

"Don't cry, Abby."

Abby looked up and glowered at Fred, whose face suddenly filled with concern when he saw her tears.

"I'm not!" Her voice was venomous.

He smiled at her. "A couple more minutes and we'll be able to take a little ride. Got a car in the evidence garage just waiting for us. Plenty of tricks up my sleeve yet, Abby. It should be quite the ride."

Abby stood to her feet, clutching Bert so tightly that he let off a horrendous fart in protest. Fred narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to Abby, issuing a threat without saying a word.

"Relax Freddy," said Abby, "I'm just stretching my legs. Go ahead; finish your little illegal download. Don't let me stop you."

He eyed her suspiciously but turned back to the computer watching his transfer of funds.

"Don't think I can't out maneuver you, Abby. I can. Prisons have amazing gym facilities these days. Spent a good portion of my time working out. Found Jesus too. Funny thing was I never knew I lost him, but apparently, I had. He got me paroled early on good behaviour."

Abby frowned in disgust, setting Bert down on the stool and taking a few steps sideways from where she'd been sitting. One thing she'd done just a few months ago was rearranged her lab. She kept most of her most toxic chemicals directly behind her. It was close to the outside door, gave her faster access to them when she needed them and they were out of the way for visitors. She leaned against the cupboard and reached behind her. The lock on the cupboard door was fastened securely.

"You know, Abby, I don't have to kill you. You're a fascinatingly gorgeous woman. Brilliant too. There are quite a few secluded places we could disappear to…change our identities…we could make a lucrative life together."

Abby put her hands behind her and fiddled with the lock. Her keys were locked in the drawer of her desk but that didn't stop her. Reaching up to scratch the back of her head afforded her the opportunity to pull a bobby pin out of her hair. The pesky hairs at the nape of her neck always gave her trouble these days, and she had remedied the problem with a few cleverly placed bobby pins.

"Fat chance of that happening," she muttered.

Still facing the computer, Fred continued to blather on about plans he had after he got his money. Abby stopped listening and began to form a workable plan in her head. A small satisfied smile played on her lips when she felt the lock click under her fingers. Fred wouldn't know what hit him, and it was almost unfair.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs ran the steps like an Olympic athlete, not feeling his knees crunching and cracking. They tended to protest going up but going down seemed to cause a burning ache. The faster he ran, the less discomfort he felt. Of course, he could have been bleeding profusely with a broken femur and he wouldn't have noticed this time. His mind was solely hoping his gut was wrong. Once he reached the outer door by Autopsy, he started shouting, desperate for some kind of sign of life. Any kind.

"Aimee!"

He shouted echoed in the hall. The lights flickered again, reminiscent of an impending storm. He expelled a breath, puffing out his cheeks hoping he wouldn't lose the lights. In his haste, he hadn't thought to grab a flashlight. He knew his phone had one but he'd be hard pressed to figure out how to use the damned thing. Should have paid attention to the umpteen times McGee had shown him about the blasted thing.

"Aimee Percy! Answer me!" His voice was stern. At this point, he didn't hold out much hope she'd still be conscious to answer him even if she was trapped. Maybe putting some fear into her would stem a response of some kind. Even a whimper. How long had it been since he's seen her?

He went to walk through the heavy automatic double doors but was stopped. They did not allow him entrance. He pounded his fists on them to no avail. The power flickering had seemed to render them impassable. He felt his pulse pounding at his temples. He peered into the room but only saw blackness. He couldn't see any sign that could answer his question of Aimee's whereabouts. Part of him had half hoped that she'd have been locked in the room and not a drawer, but his gut was screaming otherwise. Heck, the large refrigerated area would even be better, but if his memory served him right, his knife had definitely been left behind in the second bottom drawer from the right.

"Damn it!"

He beat on the door again _._

 _Think Jethro. How can you bypass the door mechanism?_

His thoughts whirled as he spun in a circle looking for something…anything…he could use to gain entrance. His eyes locked onto the emergency fire hose and ax next to the elevator. He didn't even stop to think. Grabbing the axe, he started hacking at the doors in order to pry them open. Sweat poured down his face as he worked. No power meant poor ventilation. It also meant the morgue drawers would be malfunctioning still, right? That was hopeful. The drawers were not airtight so Aimee had oxygen. _Why aren't you answering, kid?_

"AIMEE!"

The lights continued flickering ominously and finally went out again. Cursing under his breath, Gibbs continued his onslaught on the door, hoping his aim was enough. He was firing blind and working by memory. He felt the ax hook onto something so he shoved with all his might to wedge in it. He felt his way down the ax and used all his strength to shove the doors ajar. He felt them move a little under his persistence. After a few minutes, he was able to slide the doors apart just enough to allow him access to the room.

"Aims! Are you here? Answer me, kid, I'm not going to be mad. I promise!"

He rushed into the pitch darkness and stumbled into something. He cried out in pain but didn't stop. He held his hands out and felt his way around in the blackness.

"Aimee! Come on girl, answer me!"

He concentrated hoping to hear something. Anything! But he was only greeted by silence and darkness. He pushed onwards bumping into another autopsy table and knew he was getting close. Rooting around in his pocket with his free hand, he fished out his phone. The light from the screen illuminated the room enough that he was able to reach the back of the room without bumping into anything else. The light from his phone faded and he pushed the home button again.

His heart was in his throat beating so fast and hard as he fought with the lock on the drawer. His hands trembled and he fumbled several times before he managed to unlock it. He yanked with all his might and pulled out the drawer. His heart stopped when he saw her.

"Oh, God, Aimee!"

He reached in and felt for a pulse. The drawer was cold. Freezing cold. It made no sense. The power was out but the morgue drawers were working? Aimee's skin was like ice against his hand. He continued to search for a pulse and heaved a small sigh of relief when he found a thready one. She was alive.

Gibbs scooped her out of the drawer and spun around the room in a panic searching the darkness. Forcing himself to think of what he knew about the room. He needed to get her warm as fast as possible but not too fast. He knew Ducky kept lab coats at the entrance so he carefully walked in that direction. He could feel the ice cold child against his breast and it was all he could do not to lose his concentration. He kept chanting in his mind that she was alive. She was alive. With one hand he felt for the lab coat and tossed it onto the floor, gently laying Aimee down on top of it. The darkness consumed them both so he could only hope he hadn't laid her on the cold hard floor. He knelt beside her and began stripping off his sports jacket and dress shirt. Skin to skin contact was the only way he knew to get her warm. Hypothermia could be deadly and Aimee's pulse was virtually non-existent and she showed no signs of shivering. None of that worked in her favour. He pulled off her thin t-shirt and pulled her frigid little body close to his chest. He wrapped his sports jacket around her and then the lab coat. He leaned against the wall and told himself to breathe.

"Aimee, baby, you're going to be okay. I'm here and I'll keep you safe."

Gibbs wasn't sure if his words were for Aimee or for himself. He wasn't even sure how long he sat holding her and rocking her. Praying. Waiting for Ducky or the medics to arrive. His mind whirled. Would it have been better to try and carry her to the ground level and get her out? Could he keep her warm and still carry her? He wrapped his arms tighter around her, feeling her body absorb his body heat. Tears pricked at his eyes as he felt her begin to shiver in his arms. Shivering was a good sign. Her clothes were dry. She wasn't wet in anyway. That worked in her favour. She had probably kicked and screamed and protested once she'd realised she was locked in. That also was a good thing. It would have kept her warm longer. Perhaps she had just worn herself out.

Gibbs fought the urge to rub the little girl's extremities. It was a natural inclination to want to massage her ice cold limbs but he knew it was the wrong thing to do. It would warm her up too quickly. Warmth must be gradual. He didn't want to cause a drop in blood pressure. Such a thing could lead to cardiac arrest, even in a small child like Aimee. He felt her body shiver more almost like her body was gently convulsing in his arms. He kept telling himself it was normal. His heart continued to race in his chest as he held her.

"Aimee, honey, can you hear me?"

There was no movement other than involuntary shivering. He could feel her breathing and it was shallow. Faint at best. And it was scaring the hell out of him.

"Hang in there, kiddo. Keep fighting, Aims. You're a fighter. I guess you're more like me than I thought." He almost chuckled. "Stubborn as the day is long. Oh, kid, if we're going to make this work, one of us is going to have to concede to the other. That person is gonna need to be me." He pulled her closer and leaned his head against the wall. "You got to let me lead you, Aims. You got to trust me. I can do this, ya know. I know I've told you this before that I was a father to a little girl just about your age…once upon a time. I wasn't always a grumpy old coot. I don't like to talk about her much. It hurts too much. Kelly was stubborn and strong willed just like me. My old man told me that. You haven't met your grandpa Jack yet, but you will. You'll like him. He's a softie for little girls. Kelly had him wrapped around her little finger."

Gibbs licked his lips, blinked back a few more tears that threatened to fall. The darkness felt like it was going to eat him up alive. The silence was even worse. His ears strained to hear help coming, but nothing could be heard but his own beating heart and Aimee's soft breathing.

"I'm so sorry I smacked you. I shouldn't have done that. I hope you will forgive me." Gibbs huffed. "I tell my team that apologising is a sign of weakness. I want them to be the best they can be so saying sorry for their mistakes isn't something I want to hear. I just want to see them trying again. Mistakes are part of learning. Well, I learned something too. I'm an idiot. I should have taken you aside and explained why I was so mad. The thing is, girl, you're smart! I think that was what made me so angry. I forget sometimes that you're only nine years old. I forget that you're not some agent of mine on my team. You're just a kid."

Gibbs kissed the top of her head, allowing the tears to flow down his cheek.

He sniffled.

"So, yeah, I'm sorry. I need to be a better dad. I need to step up and be the kind of dad you need in your life. And, I think, somewhere deep down I know that and I'm afraid. I'm afraid that you're not going to like me." He sighed and sucked in a deep breath. "Because it means I can't be your friend all the time."

Tears blurred his vision and he blinked several times to clear it. He could feel the shivering dissipate a little, and he felt her stir from inside his coat. He touched her cheek with his hand and smiled when he felt some warmth.

"My dad once told me that he couldn't be my friend and my dad at the same time. Not until I was grown up. He said it was more important for him to be a parent than a friend. I never quite got that. Not even when Kelly was born. Over time as she grew older, I understood. Ya see, Aims, I wanted to be your friend. I wanted to be Janessa's friend. I wanted you to trust me and know you would always have me to count on. And that hasn't changed. I still want you to know you can count on me always and forever. But now things have changed for us, kiddo, haven't they? Us three are in this for the long haul now. You're stuck with me even if you can't stand me. And somehow we need to make this work."

Aimee stirred but didn't gain consciousness. Gibbs closed his eyes, willing his pulse to slow down. Willing his mind to stop spinning in hundred directions of negative thinking. He choked back a strangled sob.

"If this is gonna work, you're gonna need to let me by the dad. And that means I'm gonna need to make some hard and fast rules. And Aimee, you're gonna need to mind me, girl."

Gibbs choked back another sob and for a minute he became lost in time.

"I can't lose another child, Aimee. I can't! And if I have to be the worst son of a bitch you ever met to keep you alive then, child, I will be that. It will hurt like hell to have you hate me, but I will be what you need. I swear on my life, I will be exactly the kind of dad you need. If that means you hate me… then so be it."

Gibbs mind flashed up images of Kelly on the last day he saw her, begging him not to leave her. Crying and begging him not to go. His heart just ached so badly that he thought he would stop breathing. Gibbs lifted Aimee higher on his lap, pulling her closer to his cheek. He could feel her breath on his face. It was warm and more constant. She was slowly warming up. It was a good sign. It had to be.

"You shouldn't have played down here, Aimee Percy. This autopsy room isn't a playground, dammit! And you shouldn't have taken my knife either. You and me are gonna have some words about that. I can promise you that. You and me are gonna have a lot of words you won't like, and maybe there will even be a few tears, but we're gonna make this all work out."

He put his lips against her forehead, kissing her softly.

"I love you, Aimee. C'mon, wake up, sweetheart, and show me that pretty smile."

He shook her a little, then rocked her and kissed her again. Her coldness was seeping into his core warmth making him shiver. He pulled the sports jacket closer thinking it was taking Ducky too long to find them. He couldn't lose her. Not now. Not after everything that had happened.


	8. Chapter 8

Abby kept her eyes closed even after the latch on the lock opened. Her mind kept reaching out to Gibbs. He always seemed to know when she needed him. He was her super hero. How many times had she told herself that? Not that she needed one. Abby knew she could take care of herself. Well, she liked to think she could. Gibbs had tried to tell her so many times that she needed to ask for help when she needed it. Was this one of those times?

Only trouble was Rinnert had sent everyone on a wild goose chase. That was no one's fault but his. And poor McGee could be dying for all Abby knew. Abby sighed and forced those negative thoughts away. That kind of thinking would definitely not help her think logically.

"C'mon, c'mon…" said Rinnert, tapping his nails on the top of the monitor restlessly. "Keep updating."

The power in the room flickered again and then went out.

Rinnert spun on his heel and glared at Abby. "Tell me this computer has a backup source. A generator…something…"

"Ok, it has a backup source," lied Abby. The expression on her face told him the truth, and he pounded his fist on the desk, groaning in irritated despair.

"Son of a…" His voice trailed off into the distance as he walked towards her office computer. "Does this one have a back-up?"

Abby chewed her lip. She had a plan now. But the power going out had thrown a wrench in her plan as well. It made it harder to distract him. She needed him preoccupied.

"Do you want the truth or more rose coloured glasses type stuff?"

Rinnert groaned and came towards her. Abby's heart rate increased tenfold. She didn't want him near her or he'd see what she was concocting.

"Wait." She held up one hand, quickly thinking about how she could remedy the situation. "Look on my desk. In the top drawer is a cord; plug it into the port in the back and then into the wall. The line should be hardwired and have a stable internet connection. NCIS has a battery backup and any computer tapped into the line should have another 45 minutes of live time."

Rinnert stopped coming towards her and retreated back to her office. Abby knew he was computer savvy so she needn't be specific. He'd know what she meant. And it was the truth. It would put him back online. Abby only used that in emergencies because it sucked power from where it was needed most which was usually MTAC. The one good thing was anyone working there would also see where the power drain was coming from. This would work perfectly into her plan. Rinnert wouldn't know and maybe THAT would be her failsafe. Gibbs would see the drainage and know she needed help. MTAC had the power to kill the line, but surely whoever saw it wouldn't kill it without first searching for a reason why it was being used. Abby's lab held a high priority on the food chain. Normally no one would pull the kill switch without investigating.

Abby chanced a peek behind her being careful of her choices. This had to be mixed precisely and not haphazardly. She didn't want to kill herself while she was working to take the guy out. But she'd made airborne incapacitating agents before…sometimes just for fun to get rid of some jerk after a bad date. They were harmless if they were mixed properly. They could be toxic and lethal if she wasn't careful. Mixing one blindly was dangerous. Knock out time wasn't long and depended on weight. She guessed him to be about 6 feet tall and about 180 pounds give or take. She was 5'10 and 137 pounds. That meant she would gain consciousness about five minutes before him, hopefully giving her enough time to tie him up or knock him out longer. She needed that edge.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Tony walked into MTAC surveying the damage only to see the Director sitting staring at the empty screen. He furrowed a brow and stepped in front of her.

"Seen Gibbs?"

Jenny nodded. "He had a gut attack."

"About?"

"Not sure but I think he might have a notion where Aimee might be, but Gibbs being Gibbs took off without telling anyone what that hunch was."

"So, why didn't you follow him?" asked Tony curious why she was sitting idol in MTAC.

"He's a big boy, Tony. If he needs my help, he'll ask for it.

Tony narrowed his eyes and shrugged. Something had the director's antenna up. "What's on your mind?"

"Something isn't sitting right with me."

Tony frowned. Bingo. He'd been right on the money. "And what pray tell would that be, Madam Director?"

Jenny stood to her feet. "What do we know about Sterling?"

"You mean other than him being a worthless bastard and a coward."

"That's just it, Tony. Everything we know about Sterling says this isn't his MO. He just isn't this brilliant. The guy was a lab assistant. He didn't have what it took to have his own lab. He certainly wouldn't have the scruples to orchestrate something like this on his own and to what avail? To get revenge on Abby? It doesn't add up."

Tony nodded seeing her point and began to pace. He looked around the room and thought about everything that occurred up to when McGee took the call that set everything off.

"McGee isn't stupid either. This would have had to have been mastermind stuff. For all I say about McGee, he isn't one to be sideswiped by a two-bit idiot like Chipster."

Jenny walked over to a nearby computer. "Where was McGee?"

"Station B."

"Ziva?"

"We were comparing notes with the technician when things started to go haywire."

Jenny walked to station B and sat down at the console. The entire area was blackened from the explosion. It was a wonder that McGee survived without more injuries.

"Can we boot up any of the systems now?"

Tony scrubbed a hand across his face and shrugged. "Power is fluctuating constantly. The virus has moutated more times than they can keep up with. Each time they think they have a handle on it, it morphs into something they hadn't suspected. Whoever created it should be on our side."

"What's this flashing light all about?"

Tony furrowed a brow and came up behind Jenny. At the very top of the console was a blue flashing light. It was just there flashing off and on at random. Tony licked his lips and searched his mind for a reason. This kind of stuff was out of his league. Usually, he left this to McGee or Abby to figure out. The Scooby gang got all excited about this kind of thing. It irritated and bored Tony on a good day.

Suddenly Tony frowned.

Abby. Where was that Goth?

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her since she'd begged him to go back to her lab for a few minutes to grab some things. She hadn't been too keen on being assigned a babysitter. Would she have ventured home without telling him? He wouldn't put it past her. In all the confusion surrounding Aimee, he'd forgotten that Gibbs had wanted him to keep her safe. He'd forgotten that Abby's life was in danger too.

"Damn it!"

Jenny looked up at Tony. "What?"

"I got so side tracked searching for Aimee, I forgot I was supposed to be keeping an eye out for Abby. Gibbs wanted an Agent on her at all times."

Tony kept thinking how many ways Gibbs was going to kill him. The guy was a marine sniper. Gibbs could take him out in a heartbeat.

Jenny's forehead creased. "DiNozzo! Don't tell me you forgot to issue an Agent to Abby!"

Tony blanched. "I'm an idiot."

Jenny rose to her feet, ignoring the comment. "Where did you last see her?"

"She went to her lab to grab a few things. Said she'd meet me back at the bullpen."

"When was that?"

Tony looked at his watch. He couldn't remember.

"Maybe she went home, Director. You know how much Abby likes it when Gibbs issues her a babysitter."

Jenny chewed her lip. It was true. It wouldn't be the first time that Abby had taken off after Gibbs had told her she needed some agent protection.

"So help me, if that girl took off on her own, I'm gonna Gibbs' smack her myself."

Tony clenched his jaw as tension hit him square in the gut. This wasn't good at all. Abby was missing. Aimee was missing. The power had a mind of its own and they had no game plan yet. He found himself staring at the blinking blue light. On a hunch, he sat down on the table and attempted to access the nearest computer. The lights in the room had flickered several times and stayed on. This gave him a little hope that the IT guys were gaining some ground with the virus.

Jenny took notice and came up behind him. "What are you doing?"

"Call it a gut instinct," he said staring intently at the screen. "I seem to remember another time when I saw that flashing blue light after we had a power outage. Remember that storm a couple of years back?"

Jenny chewed her lip remembering. "What about it?"

"Well, most of the utmost important systems at NCIS have access to battery backup should the need arise. Autopsy will flash green, you, Madam Director, will flash red, Abby's lab will flash…"

"Blue!" finished Jenny. "Abby is accessing files?"

"That or someone else in her lab is."

All at once an alarm rang out throughout the building. Red lights started flashing and the building was put to something similar to DEFCON 1 in NCIS terms. It meant there was a chemical spill in Abby's lab and personnel was to immediately evacuate the premises. Emergency HAZMAT would be dispatched right away.

Jenny looked at Tony with a grim expression. "Well, the good news is it appears like most systems are back online."

Tony grimaced in response and fled the room.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Tony reached the lab in record time. He prided himself on staying physically fit, worked out constantly and made a point of staying as healthy as possible. He might have made a show of eating junk food and acting like a lazy sloth, but his fitness was important to him. Times like this counted on his speed and fitness as an agent. He'd beat the HAZMAT team to the lab and pushed the emergency clear button. It would clear the air in the lab and make it safe for entry. He peered into the room to see Abby unconscious on the floor. Tony had no idea what he was walking into so he grabbed a mask from the entry way to be sure. He wasn't following HAZMAT protocols but to hell with that. He pulled his weapon and opened the door.

He did a quick once over of the room to see a male Caucasian unconscious on the floor in Abby's office. He quickly hit the switch to barricade him inside the glassed in area. Whoever it was, was definitely not supposed to be here. Tony dropped to his knees beside Abby and felt for a pulse. He was quickly rewarded for his efforts. Her pulse was strong and steady. She gently patted her on the cheek.

"Abbs," he said.

Abby moaned and rolled her head back and forth. Tony continued patting her cheeks as she began to gain consciousness.

"Hey, welcome back Little Sister," Tony said, breaking into a toothy smile, relieved beyond belief that she was okay. He was silently berating himself for forgetting about her. How much more of an idiot could he be? Gibbs was going to break him into tiny little pieces and feed him to the dump ducks at the beach.

Abby blinked her eyes a few times as her vision came back. She opened her eyes only to scurry to her feet with Tony's help.

"Tony, you're here." She hugged him tight enough to take the wind from him.

"Abbs, breathing isn't optional." He returned her embrace and could feel her trembling in his arms.

"Hey, you're safe, Abby."

Abby nodded, still trembling all over. It took her a few minutes to find her tongue and then all at once, Tony was inundated with information about Fred Rennart. His heart leaped into his throat as he listened to all Abby had to say but before he had a chance to respond, the room was flooded with Hazmat personnel.

Tony put up his hand to gain attention. "False alarm gang." He hesitated and looked at Abby for reassurance. "It was a false alarm, right Abbs?"

Abby smiled and nodded. "Nonlethal guys. Sorry to cause a ruckus."

The Hazmat team glared at Abby and slowly left the area once again.

Tony chuckled at their reaction. It wasn't the first time Abby had had a false alarm and he felt like it wouldn't be the last one either. He pulled Abby in for another warm brotherly hug. "You scared me, Abbs."

Abby pulled away suddenly. "Where's Gibbs? I've been trying to send him telepathic messages for hours."

Tony shook his head, biting back a smirk at Abby's silly superstitions. "I dunno, Abbs." Tony reached into his pocket and fished out his phone. "I'm gonna call in Rennart and get his sorry ass outta your lab for ya. You sure you're okay, Abby?"

Abby blinked back tears and nodded her head. She was fine physically. No doubt about that, but she was shaken up. Her lab had been violated and so had her sense of security. She wasn't sure how long that would take to shake off.

"Yeah, sure, Tony. I'm going home now if that's okay."

Tony held the phone to his ear as it rang. The culprit had been caught. The danger to Abby was over. It should be safe for her to go home. Only Tony didn't feel good about it. His inner Gibbs said that Abby needed to stay close. And he always listened to his inner Gibbs.

"Forget it, Abbs. You're not going anywhere. We still need to find Aimee."

Abby's eyes widened. "You mean no one has found her yet?"

Tony held up a finger. "Yeah, it's DiNozzo here. We need some security to Abby's lab right away. We've found our virus culprit." Tony paused for a moment while he listened to the person on the receiving ends response to his information and then he hung up.

"No. We've searched high and low."

"Where's Gibbs?"

"Still looking. He took off on his own without telling anyone."

Just then Tony's cell rang out in the quietness of the lab. Tony glanced at the number briefly before answering. "What's up, Ducky?"

Abby chewed her nail as she listened to Tony talk to Ducky on his cell phone. Her stomach ached, and she was tired. Her heart ached as well. Gibbs should have been there with her. She needed him. She shook her head, trying to clear the muddled feelings from her heart. She was a grown adult, and she was safe. Nothing had happened to her. She'd used her brains, kept her wits about her and she'd rescued herself. She was capable of taking care of herself. Abby blinked back tears as she fought her own inner musing. As much as all that was true, she still wanted Gibbs to hold her and tell her she was safe.

Tony dropped his phone in his pocket and reached for Abby's hand. "Gibbs found Aimee, Abbs. It doesn't look too good. She's got a severe case of hypothermia from being locked in the morgue drawers."

Abby blinked in disbelief. "Oh, my gosh, Tony! How'd she get in there?"

Tony pulled Abby towards the stairs, still not trusting the elevators. "I'll explain on the way, Abby. For now, let's just pray for that little girl."


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N Hello Readers...hope you are still enjoying this NCIS universe...my updates are slow but I'm still plugging away at the story.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoy!**_

 _ **God bless,**_

 _ **Jenny Wrens**_

Gibbs sat in the hospital waiting room with his head in his hands. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there. The Medics had arrived at NCIS before Ducky and whisked Aimee out of his hands. He couldn't fault them for their brusqueness. He's been on the scene of many emergencies and as much as first responders wanted to be kind and reassuring, there just wasn't a whole lot of time to mollycoddle people. Gibbs knew that. He had gained a whole new perspective on things throughout this. He'd be different as an agent from now on. Or at least he hoped so. He understood that people needed hope. It wasn't that he didn't know that before, but he'd allowed himself to grow hard. Time had a way of doing that to a person. Time and distance. Now with the shoe on the other foot, he wanted reassurances too, and maybe a little bit of compassion. He hadn't been afforded that. So he was left to his own devices, and that was never good. The only words that kept ringing in his head were ones Palmer had once said at a crime scene. "They're not dead until they're warm and dead." Aimee had been cold. Very cold. And as much as he told himself that she was warming up, he knew her condition was serious.

He raked his trembling fingers through his hair, trying to keep himself calm. Lydia Parker had managed to berate him over the phone for his less than stellar parenting skills. The hospital had been obligated to contact social services because Aimee was still considered a ward of the court. Gibbs felt like a beaten old hound dog. Being that she was Aimee's social worker and he hadn't fully finished the adoption process, Miss Parker still had her big nose stuck in his business. She was sure to get in some very hurtful words and made it known that she would be reporting him to the governing authorities. She'd also warned him that this incident could affect the adoption. His own second thoughts were already ringing loudly in his own head. He didn't need her reminding him what a failure he was as a parent. Maybe he didn't have what it took to be a parent after all. He couldn't seem to handle Aimee, and it could have cost her life. Perhaps he'd been wrong in thinking he could be a good father and a good agent. Maybe he couldn't be both. At the moment he didn't feel he was either.

"Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs felt himself startle when a voice said his name. He had been so lost in his own thoughts and misery that he had virtually tuned out his surroundings. He looked up to see a doctor standing over him with a kind and sympathetic expression on his face. Gibbs jumped to his feet, anxiety wreaking havoc with his gut.

"How's she doing?"

The young, dark haired man offered a gentle smile, reached out and patted Gibbs on the shoulder kindly.

"She's going to be fine, sir. She's quite the kid. A real fighter."

Gibbs smiled in spite of the turbulent emotions running rampant within him. The doctor had no idea what a fighter Aimee was.

"Please, sit down, Agent Gibbs," said the man as he held out his hand to encourage Gibbs to sit down.

Gibbs obliged but remained on the edge of his seat. He took a moment to glance at the man's name badge thinking the younger man reminded him a lot of Tim, only with a whole lot more confidence in himself.

The doctor sat down and unbuttoned his white lab coat. He scrubbed his hand across his face looking every bit as weary as Gibbs felt.

"It's been a long night…" the man explained.

Gibbs nodded realising that the sitting down had been more for the doctor's benefit than his. The younger man looked well and truly exhausted.

"Do you have any idea how long she was locked in that freezer?"

"I can't answer that, Doctor McTaggart…" He couldn't even begin to speculate how long.

"Please, call me Tyler."

There was something about the man that radiated comfort, and Gibbs wasn't too proud in those moments to embrace it. He would have showered in it if he could. The guilt felt like it was drowning him.

Gibbs nodded and continued, "The power was fluctuating. We had a system overload, I guess you could say." Gibbs hesitated. It was too complicated to explain and confidential anyway. "The morgue drawers were malfunctioning, but I guess they were repaired and back online much faster than any of us realised."

Dr. McTaggart nodded. "I see. Well, we managed to slowly warm her blood and bladder. She is responding well. She's a brave kid! It's been awhile since I've seen a kid bounce back as quickly as she has. I think we all got lucky on this one."

Gibbs felt relief wash over his entire body at the words.

"I wanted to commend you on your quick thinking, Agent Gibbs. For all intents and purposes, you saved her life. Getting yourself skin to skin with her stopped the hypothermia in its tracks. You did everything right!"

Gibbs nodded, not accepting the praise. He had been in the marines for years. He was no stranger to hypothermia, but there was no way the doctor would have known that. As far as Gibbs saw it, Aimee's condition was solely his fault and he knew it. No amount of praise would change that fact. She wouldn't have been in this position if he'd taken the time to talk with her instead of losing his cool. He should have kept a better eye on her.

"Is she conscious? Can I see her?"

Dr. McTaggart nodded. "Yes, she's conscious; we're still warming her with IV fluids and she's sipping at some warm soup as well. You most certainly can see her, but she wanted me to make you promise not to be mad at her. Apparently, since I'm a doctor, you have to listen to me. It's like some kind of dad law or something." The man grinned and winked at Gibbs.

Gibbs felt a smile pull at his lips. It sounded like something Aimee would say.

"I'm not mad at her." Gibbs rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm too mad at myself to be upset with her. She scared me to death. When I pulled that drawer open and found her unconscious, I think I lost about twenty years off my life."

Dr. McTaggart nodded his understanding. "I can only imagine. Don't be too hard on yourself, Agent Gibbs. Being a parent doesn't make you omniscient. Kids do dumb things. I think it's just part of their DNA." The man chuckled softly. "Trust me; I've treated kids in here for things that would make your head spin. Aimee locking herself in a morgue drawer wasn't your fault."

Gibbs shook his head, feeling tears prick at the back of his eyes. "Thank-you." He didn't believe the words but there was no point in discussing it any further.

"I treated a three-year-old this morning whose mother broke her arm."

Gibbs' eyes widened in alarm, his stomach churning at the thought.

Dr. McTaggart raised a hand expecting the unease. "It's not what you think. The child went climbing on the sofa at the same time as her mother and the woman sat on the little girl's arm. Snapped it like a match stick."

Gibbs winced and released a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding.

"Another child I treated this evening had stuck orange pepper pieces up his nose and yet another stuffed beads in his ears. I've stitched up fingers, heads, and mouths from other childish accidents. Stuff happens, sir, and no one is to blame. That's why they're called accidents."

Gibbs pinched his nose. "I should have kept a better eye on her…" Gibbs shook his head in defeat, not even believing that he was rambling to a complete stranger about his inner most thoughts. But, hell, didn't he deserve to have someone to talk to too?

Dr. McTaggart sat up further and smiled. "Parents all over the world say the same thing. A child drowns and they say they should have watched closer. A child runs across the road and is struck by a car and another runs between two parked cars. Children are unpredictable and spontaneous. All you can do is your best and the rest of the time, pray, Agent Gibbs; pray they make it safely to adulthood." The doctor rose to his feet. "Are you a praying sort?"

Gibbs stood to his feet as well. "Nope, never been my thing. I'm more of a self-reliant kind of man."

The doctor stared at him as if deciding if he would continue or not. "I used to be too. I'm married with two little girls and now, I pray. A lot."

Gibbs lowered his head and chuckled. He could definitely see himself praying a lot more in the future as well. He'd forgotten how much of life was out of his hands. He was used to being a man in control, but it was different when it was just him to worry about. Of course, he did worry about his team incessantly, but that also was different; they were grown adults. "All we can do is our best." Dr. McTaggart smiled again and patted Gibbs on the shoulder. "Go see your daughter. She's in room 134. I'm sure she'll be as glad to see you as you are to see her."

Gibbs returned the smile and watched as the man walked away.

Rubbing his hand across his mouth, Gibbs forced himself to take a deep breath. He felt like he'd survived some kind of tumultuous storm. His emotions were all over the place. He was filled with relief and dread at the same time. He didn't even know what he was going to say to Aimee.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Abby was very quiet as they drove towards the hospital. No one had heard much of anything in a way of updates about Aimee or Tim. Abby didn't like to think of herself as a worrywart but she knew she was. She couldn't help it. If she allowed herself to dwell on things, she could worry herself into a migraine headache. Her head was already pounding because of the lack of caffeine. It was almost midnight and her reserves were completely depleted. She was approaching a crash which wasn't good for anyone around her. It meant she'd either be an emotional basket case or rip everyone's faces off. Generally, though, if she chose to work late at NCIS, she was careful to manage her caffeine intake. She'd been a forensic scientist for a long time and caffeine was how she survived.

"How ya doing, Abbs?"

Abby chewed her bottom lip and shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know how to answer that question. She felt a warm hand pat her knee.

"You're shaking. Are you cold?" Tony reached out and flicked on the heat in the car. Abby didn't feel cold. She didn't feel much of anything.

"You sure that guy didn't hurt you, Abbs? You're awfully quiet and it's not like you. Something you're not telling me?" Tony's voice sounded concerned.

Abby shook her head but remained quiet. She didn't feel like she could talk without breaking down, and she didn't want to lose it just yet. She needed to stay strong for Gibbs.

Tony kept driving in the darkness. Abby could see him looking at her from the corner of his eye. He was worried about her. Tony was like her big brother, and she knew he didn't like it when she was quiet. Abby was rarely quiet.

Forcing herself to speak, Abby took a deep breath. "Where's Director Shepard and Ziva?" Abby pinched herself to keep from crying.

"Jenny had some loose ends to tie up, and Ziva decided to keep her company." He glanced at her briefly as he drove. "C'mon, Abbs, answer me. That guy didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, I'm fine, Tony." Her voice wavered making Tony's name sound all warbled.

"Tell me what happened in there!"

"Nothing! Fred was in my territory, Tony. I can take care of myself." Abby snapped at him crossly.

Tony sighed. "I get that, Abbs. I do. No one's saying you can't take care of yourself…" he hesitated like he wanted to say something else but instead said, "I'm worried about you, little sister. Something is off with you, and I can't quite place my finger on why."

Abby felt her temper bubble up inside her. "I was just held hostage by some psycho, Tony. What did you expect? Sunshine and roses?"

Tony reached out and patted her knee again. "Tim is fine, Abby."

Abby's jaw dropped. How did he know her so well? "How do you know that?" She shouted.

"He texted me earlier. Said he was being held for observation but there was nothing to worry about."

Abby closed her eyes and choked back a strangled sob. She had been worried about Tim, probably more than she realised or cared to admit. She sucked at keeping things from Tony.

"No one tells me anything," Abby mumbled as tears ran down her cheeks. She huffed and bit her lip to keep from losing it completely.

"I'm sorry, Abby. I would have told you…"

"I know. It's not that."

"Then what?" prompted Tony, resting his hand on her knee again for comfort.

Abby wiped the mutinous tears from her face. "I'm just tired, Tony. That's all. Are we almost there?"

It was a silly question; she could see as well as he could where they were on the journey. She just didn't want to talk anymore. She heard Tony sigh in the darkness and then noticed he was pulling the car to the curb.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed, starting to feel panicked. "We have to get to the hospital to find out about Aimee. Gibbs needs us!"

Tony reached forward and flicked on the dome lights so their eyes met. "Gibbs can take care of himself too, Abbs. Right now, I'm worried about you."

Abby's mouth dropped open. She did not have the energy to keep holding her emotions in check. Tony was going to be one sorry dude if he kept pushing this line of conversation.

"Tony, now is not the time for this. We need to be with Gibbs!" She crossed her arms defiantly and puffed out her cheeks.

Tony chuckled. "You sound like Aimee."

Abby wasn't in the mood for Tony teasing her. Not today. Not after everything that had happened. Not the way she was feeling: vulnerable and forgotten. Forgetting about trying to keep her emotions under control, Abby put her head into her hands and sobbed. It was probably out of character for her but at this point, she no longer cared. Sobbing was the release she needed. Her throat was burning from trying to hold the tears back. The pressure in her head and chest was reaching epic proportions; she needed the release and crying was better than yelling.

The smile faded from Tony's face. "Hey, Abbs, I'm sorry." Abby could hear the remorse in his voice but it was too little, too late. She was falling off the cliff of her emotions with no turning back.

"Hey, what's going on?" He pulled her into a warm embrace while she sobbed. "Talk to me," he prodded. "That creep hurt you more than you're telling me, didn't he?"

Abby sniffled and tried to gain her composure enough to speak. Sure, she'd been frightened when Rinnert held her captive but not to the point of losing control. It never crossed her mind that he'd really harm her. He never seemed violent to her. And the whole time in her lab, she knew she had the upper hand. There was no way he could have predicted the things she could do. She always joked with people that she was the only one who could kill them and leave no forensic evidence behind. When it came to her lab, Abby had the advantage.

"H-he didn't hurt me, Tony," she managed through her tears. "I can t-take care of m-myself!"

Tony pulled her closer and she snuggled in, trying to gain her composure. Sobs still wracked her small frame though, much to her chagrin.

"Yah, I know you can," he whispered softly into her ear. "But it still would have been nice to have someone come to your rescue, wouldn't it? Especially a certain someone with silver hair and that oh so grumpy demeanor we know and love."

Abby stiffened a little. She hadn't wanted to admit it even to herself, but Tony had hit the nail on the head. She had wanted Gibbs to come to her rescue. She'd wanted him to know instinctively that she was in trouble and come running like he always did. But he didn't. And not because she needed him—because she could take care of herself-but because he just knew she was in trouble. But he hadn't come. He'd been distracted and less in tune with her.

"Gibbs needed to help Aimee," protested Abby trying to pull away from Tony, feeling angry with him that he knew her so well and embarrassed and angry with herself for feeling the way she did. She was intelligent enough to know her feelings were ridiculous.

Tony held her tightly not letting her pull away.

"He loves you, Abby. That hasn't changed, you know."

Abby licked her lips and allowed the tears to flow freely. "I know he does. Nothing is the same anymore, Tony."

Tony rested his chin on Abby's dark hair. "No, things are different; that is true enough, but different doesn't mean bad, Abbs. It just means adjusting. Gibbs still loves you just like he always has. That will never change."

Abby sniffled and nodded. She was trying hard to believe Tony but she just wasn't sure. All she knew is she felt alone.

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs peeked in the window of Aimee's room. The blond haired little girl was sitting up, wrapped in numerous blankets with her small hands wrapped snuggly around a ceramic mug. A nurse was in the room checking the various tubes that were attached to her. Gibbs had to force himself to breathe deeply when he saw her pale face. Aimee was alive and awake. He had a lot to be thankful for. Her mischievous laughter echoed in the room as the nurse spoke softly to her. Aimee's little face broke into an easy grin when Gibbs entered the room and she saw him. Gibbs felt his heart flutter nervously in his chest.

"Gibbs!"

"Hey, Aims!" He heard the warble in his voice as he spoke.

"Gibbs!" She repeated, her grin growing bigger as he approached her side. "This is Nurse Evans. She can do ventra…vantrilly…" She looked at the nurse, "What did you call it again?"

The auburn haired nurse smiled. "Ventriloquism."

"Yah, what she said. Do you know what that is, Gibbs?"

Gibbs sat on the edge of her bed and stroked her head lovingly. "Yup."

"The IV pole talked to me." She pointed to the pole in awe." Nurse Evans tricked me!" Aimee laughed again. "Show my dad how you did that!"

Gibbs felt his heart skip a beat over how easily the words "my dad" slipped from Aimee's lips. She didn't even bat an eyelash when she said it.

The nurse laughed as the IV pole began 'talking' to them about what it was doing. Gibbs smiled as he watched Aimee eat up the show. Her eyes were lit up with excitement. Gibbs felt a tremor of relief wash over him again. No matter what else happened, he was never going to forget what he felt like in this moment. He thought he'd lost another child, and it had almost destroyed him completely.

"Now, Aimee," said Nurse Evans, kindly, "I need to check in on some of my other patients. Have fun with your daddy, honey." With those words, the nurse vacated the room.

Gibbs put his arm around Aimee and she leaned into him. He embraced her, kissing her on top of her head.

"How ya feeling, kiddo?"

"Cold," she said.

Gibbs saw her shiver again. He reached out to feel the temperature of her drink, and it was still warm.

"Keep drinking that soup."

She nodded and sipped at it suddenly becoming sullen and quiet.

"Need another blanket? Your hands still feel so cold." He rubbed the back of her hands being careful not to upset her drink.

She shook her head but didn't look at him. He pulled her closer to him wanting to hold her forever. He rubbed her back soothingly. "You scared me, Aimee…"

"M'sorry," she muttered softly.

Gibbs looked down at her and could see tears running down her cheeks. "Don't cry, sweetie…"

Aimee shivered again and swiped at her cheek. "My tears feel like they're burning my cheeks!" Her voice sounded frightened.

Gibbs took the cup from her hands, setting it on the side table and pulled her onto his lap wrapping his arms around her being mindful not to upset any tubes in her arms. "It's okay, Aimee. You're just really cold, and your body is doing what it can to warm you up." He hugged her close and pulled up the blankets.

"You mad at me, Gibbs?"

The million dollar question he'd been expecting since he'd talked to Dr. McTaggart. He knew she'd ask him, and she was expecting an answer. The only trouble was he was too relieved to be angry with her, and he was too busy being mad at his own self to be able to think straight about much of anything.

"Nope."

Aimee craned her head around to look up at his face. "Really? Honest and for real you're not?" Tears still tumbled down her cheeks but her eyes looked hopeful.

"Honest and for real I'm not mad."

He felt her slump in his arms and exhale a long breath. "I thought you were gonna _kill_ me." Gibbs bit back a smirk as she stressed the word kill. "I really am sorry, Gibbs. Honest, I am. I promise I didn't play in that ole drawer either. I just went back to get my kn…" She suddenly clamped her hand over her mouth as her eyes grew big.

"My knife?" He finished for her. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, tossing it onto the blanket in front of them. "Is that it?"

"Uh oh," she said leaning her head against his chest and closing her eyes. "Now you're gonna spank me for sure, aren't ya?"

Gibbs sighed. He really didn't want to get into the nitty gritty details of everything when the kid had barely recovered from hypothermia, but he also didn't want to leave her hanging either. Both weren't fair to her.

"How about you tell me why you took my knife in the first place?" He was kicking himself for not confronting her on this before when he first realised it was missing. He just hadn't thought it was a big deal. He still didn't. Not really. Aimee was overall a pretty mature kid, and he probably would've given her one, had she just asked him.

He felt her shrug under his embrace. "Aimee, you know a shrug isn't an answer."

"I just wanted it." Her voice was bordering on a whine now. Her body tensed up in his arms, and Gibbs took a deep breath, not wanting to push things with Aimee. The last thing he wanted right now was an altercation with the little girl.

He patted her arm lightly. "Okay. Let's just forget this for now. I just want you to know that I'm not mad, okay?"

"So, you're not gonna spank me?"

Gibbs sighed. She wasn't going to let it go. He gently turned her sideways so he was pretty much cradling her in his arms. He wanted to see her face and he wanted her to see his.

"I owe you an apology, kiddo."

Aimee blinked. "Me?" The look of surprise on her face could not be mistaken.

"Yes, you. I shouldn't have spanked you in Autopsy. It was wrong, and I'm sorry. You scared me, and I reacted out of being scared. I should have calmed down and talked with you. I think we both could have spared ourselves a lot of trouble had we just talked about what happened."

Aimee sucked on her bottom lip. "I was just playing a trick on Jimmy."

"I know that. You and me need to have a talk about boundaries at NCIS, but not now and not today. You need to rest and warm up so you can come home. So, what do you say? Do you forgive your ole dad?"

Aimee nodded and grinned. "Can I call you that?"

Gibbs felt his face flush and his heart rate increase. "Call me what?"

"Dad…er, I mean, if you still want me."

Gibbs felt tears burn the back of his eyes. "Aimee, of course, I still want you. I will still want you and love no matter what you do—good or bad—that will never EVER change." Gibbs swallowed before he continued speaking, "And I would be honoured if you wanted to call me dad." Tears swam in his eyes and he had to try very hard to blink them back.

"I want to." The little girl shivered again and yawned.

"Sleepy?"

Aimee nodded as she snuggled her head against his arm. She felt so much warmer in his arms than she had earlier that day. He watched as her eyes fluttered and closed.

"I love you, daddy," she said ever so softly.

Gibbs kissed the top of her head gently as she dozed off. "I love you too, Aims."


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N Thanks for the reviews. Hope you're still enjoying my NCIS Universe.**_

 _ **I hadn't thought the story would go this long but it looks like there is going to be another chapter or two yet.**_

 _ **Please let me know if you're enjoying the characters and storylines. I love writing but if there is no interest, I don't want to waste my time or yours.**_

 _ **I have some idea for some one-shots in this universe, so let me know if you want to read them.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

 _ **God bless, Jenny Wrens**_

Gibbs frowned as he forced himself to awaken. An incessant beeping had entered his subconscious pulling him out of his much-needed slumber. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he realised he was still in the hospital with Aimee curled up in his lap. His own exhaustion had taken over and he'd fallen asleep with her in his arms. He gently planted a kiss on her blonde head and slowly slipped out of the bed. At the same time, a nurse scurried into the room to answer the beeping of the IV drip.

"So sorry, Agent Gibbs. I wanted to catch that before it woke you."

He waved a dismissive hand. "I guess I was more tired than I realised."

She smiled and reset the IV drip, checking Aimee vital signs. "You should go home and get some proper rest. Aimee will probably sleep for hours now."

"Why is that?" queried Gibbs, feeling his concern rise once again.

She smiled again. "Not to worry, Agent Gibbs. Aimee is fine; I promise. She just needs her rest as do you. Go on; get some sleep. We'll call you if anything changes."

Gibbs stifled a yawn and nodded. Grabbing his sports coat from the chair, he took one last look at Aimee sleeping peacefully and wandered out the door into the hall. As he walked down the hallway towards the elevator, his eye caught sight of Tony and Abby sleeping in the adjoined waiting area. Tony's head was leaning against the wall and Abby was curled up with her dark head on his lap. Gibbs ran a weary hand through his hair as he quietly entered the room and tapped Tony on the head.

"Hey, DiNozzo."

Tony's eyes fluttered a little and opened. "Hey, Boss. How's Aimee doing?"

"She's fine. How long have you two been waiting here?"

Tony sat up a little being mindful to not disturb Abby's slumber. "Not sure exactly. Couple hours maybe. We saw you and Aimee sleeping and didn't want to disturb you. The nurses said we could crash here if we liked."

"Should have taken Abby home like I asked before."

"I know, but I wanted to get her looked at…"

"Abby?" Gibbs' eyes shot towards Abby, giving her a once over. "Why? What happened?" His mind flew back to stuff that had happened at NCIS. Had something happened to Abby?

Tony blinked a few times and then worked his way to his feet, being careful not wake the dark haired Goth. Abby continued to sleep peacefully as he gently lowered her head to the chair. He pulled off his coat and covered her with it.

"Can we talk, Boss?"

Gibbs' blue eyes kept staring at Abby, taking in her exhausted form and what looked like tears still lingering on her cheeks. He felt his heart rate increase again sending a rush of adrenalin that woke him up fully.

"What's going on, DiNozzo?"

Tony started walking out of the room into the hallway with Gibbs following close behind not expecting what he was about to be told. Once outside the waiting room, Gibbs listened as Tony filled him in on all he'd missed searching and rescuing Aimee from the morgue drawer. The colour drained from Gibbs' face as he listened to what went down with Abby and her reaction to it all. Rinnert? The whole blasted thing had been spearheaded by Rinnert? Gibbs could hardly wrap his head around it let alone figure out why. It made no sense. And Abby taking the idiot on by herself? Gibbs groaned and leaned against the wall. Inherently, he knew Abby could take care of herself. She had proven it to him time and time again, but the thought of her being in danger and him not being close by to help made his blood run cold. What if something had happened to her? He would have never forgiven himself.

"You sure she's okay, Tony?" he asked again, feeling a mixture of sudden anger and disbelief.

Tony nodded. "She's fine. As far as I can tell and from what she told me, Rinnert didn't lay a hand on her."

Gibbs tried to let that appease him a little, but it wasn't working.

"Boss, Abbs…uh…she thinks…umm…"

Gibbs looked at Tony, his annoyance growing. "Spit it out, DiNozzo."

Tony sighed, looking about as wiped out as Gibbs felt. Tony made a horrible attempt at trying to explain how Abby was feeling…making Gibbs realise that he was failing yet again. So far he was batting a thousand in the worst dad in the world tournament. "She can take care of herself and all but, Boss, don't forget she's your Abbs, okay?"

Gibbs lowered his head and nodded. He understood. Abby was his daughter. She had been his daughter since the day the little Goth girl stepped foot into NCIS. She was fresh out of school looking as innocent and young as any college girl. There had been something special about her that caught his eye. Her vulnerability mixed with a spunk he couldn't resist. He had met her in the elevator after her interview. Her bubbly personality mixed with a downcast spirit and tear stained cheeks had tugged at his heart strings. The interview hadn't gone as well as she had hoped and she found a captive audience in him. She'd had no idea at the time that he was an agent and unloaded her whole life story to him that first day, including the recent death of her parents in a car accident. She had stolen his heart that day.

"Go home and get some sleep, Tony. I'll take Abby home."

"You sure, Boss?"

Gibbs nodded. He needed some time with Abby. Tony rubbed a hand over his face and gave Gibbs one last look.

"What happened today wasn't anyone's fault, Gibbs. Aimee, Abby…those incidents weren't your fault; you know that, right?"

Gibbs' face remained deadpan. "Thanks, Tony. Go home. That's an order."

Tony gave him a warm smile and nodded before turning and heading towards the nearest elevator.

Gibbs watched as Tony stepped onto the lift before turning back and walking towards the waiting room. Abby still slept soundly with Tony's jacket wrapped around her shoulders. Gibbs hated to wake her but he leaned over and shook her gently. Abby's eyes fluttered a little and she opened her eyes, bolting up and rubbing at her tired looking, swollen eyes.

"Hey, Gibbs. How's Aimee?"

Gibbs sat down beside her and drew her in for a hug. "Aimee is fine. I'm more concerned about you. You ok? Tony told me about Rinnert. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Abby shook her head and pulled away. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. Her body language was saying one thing and her mouth was saying the opposite.

"I'm ok, Gibbs. You know I can take care of myself. Besides, we were in my lab. I could have taken him down in 100 different ways and he'd never see it coming."

Gibbs nodded and smirked. Abby was a very resourceful woman no matter where she was. She might have looked vulnerable but there was no doubt that she could take care of herself. She'd proven that to him so many times over the years, and in her own lab, Abby was downright dangerous. Rinnert was a fool to think he could ever outwit her. Underestimating Abby was his first and last mistake.

"Let me guess, some kind of chemical knockout gas?"

"Of course, Gibbs. What else would be quick, easy and cause the least amount of danger to anyone else in the building?"

Gibbs went to put his arm around her again but she pulled away, dropping her feet to the floor and standing up.

"You must be tired, Gibbs. I'm going to get going. I was thinking I'd go stay with Sister Marjorie for a couple of days. Do you think Director Shepard would mind if I took a few days leave?"

Gibbs lifted a brow and frowned. "No, she probably wouldn't mind, but I would. Abbs, what the hell is going on with you?"

Abby drew her hands together, tapping her knuckles together in that telltale sign of nervousness he'd seen so many times.

"Nothing, Gibbs; I just thought you and the girls needed some quiet time alone together. You know, after everything that's happened, I'm sure you have a lot of talk about and you certainly don't need me under foot. Sister Marjorie offered to help me find an apartment when I was ready and there is no time like the present, Gibbs. The early bird gets the worm and all that…"

"Abby."

"I've probably over stayed my welcome anyway. Now that I'm back to work and making a decent salary again, I can afford a nice apartment. I hope it's okay if I leave my stuff in storage at your place until I find something. If not, I'm sure Timmy wouldn't mind storing…"

"That's enough, Abbs."

Abby continued talking faster and faster ignoring Gibbs words as he attempted to stop her nervous rambling. Something was bothering the Goth and he needed to get to the bottom of it for both their sakes. He found himself growing more and more impatient with her as she continued bulldozing through with her words and ignoring his.

"I'm sure you'll be glad to have the house to yourself again, Gibbs. It gets crowded with two adults and two kids occupying the same space day in and day out…"

Gibbs held his hand up. "Don't make me say stop one more time, Abby."

Abby's eyes widened a little and she hesitated for a moment but then continued on. "I bought a paper citing all the current listings in the area from the coffee shop before I feel asleep." She opened her purse, fished out a paper and opened it to some listings showing it to him. "I'm sure Tony or Ziva or even Timmy could come help me look. There was this really cute bachelorette on Borgne Street.

Gibbs closed his eyes briefly as she continued rambling. He forced himself to breathe deeply and count to ten. He honestly didn't know who frustrated him more: Aimee or Abby.

"Abby, I said STOP!"

Abby looked startled. "Gibbs…"

He reached out and put a gentle hand over her open mouth. "Not another word. Yes, I raised my voice at you. No, I don't do that often, but good grief, girl, you won't stop talking even when I ask you to stop nicely."

Abby pushed his hand away and turned to leave the room. Gibbs grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. His steely blue eyes swam with compassion mixed with a good dose of 'don't mess with me'.

"Sit, Abby." He surprised himself with how calm his words sounded when inside he felt anything but composed.

She pulled her arm away. "No! I'm leaving, Gibbs."

Gibbs stepped in front of her and used what little energy he had left to stare her down, making himself as intimidating as possible. He usually reserved such a glare for Tony when he was ticking him off.

"Sit down!" He inwardly winced at his tone. He hadn't intended for his words to be so harsh. They sounded like an ultimatum even to him. What was he getting himself into?

Abby's eyes widened again and she gulped in trepidation.

Struggling not to give in to his emotions, Gibbs felt like he was about two seconds away from applying a customised-for-Abby Gibb's smack. He was just waiting for her to challenge him again. He was exhausted and certainly not in the mood for an Abby-sized temper tantrum.

"Gibbs, I'm tired…" she muttered, attempting to edge past him.

Gibbs reached out to grab her arm once again more sternly. "Sit your ass down now and I won't say it again!"

Abby stared at Gibbs in shock as tears flooded down her cheeks. It wasn't often he was this severe with her.

He glared back at her. "Are we going to sit and talk or do I need to insist further?" He didn't need to say anything more; she knew what he meant.

Abby sat.

Gibbs pulled another chair up and sat directly in front of her. "Now, talk to me!"

Abby blinked as tears continued to stream down her cheeks and fall onto her pink skirt.

"It's nothing, Gibbs," she whined.

Gibbs took a deep breath, sighing with a pained expression on his face. "Abby, I'm about one _nothing_ away from pulling you over my knee, and right now, I don't even care we're in a hospital waiting room where anyone could walk in on us. Does that tell you something about my tolerance level about now?" Gibbs cursed his own paternal instincts. What on earth was he even saying? Thankfully, Abby was backing down, looking sheepish and not at all threatened. Gibbs took that as his permission to continue. "Look, I'm tired, and I already feel like a complete failure; don't push me into doing something we'll both regret and that will make me feel even worse than I do already."

Abby chewed her lip and nodded.

"Abby, I never once asked you to leave. Remember whose idea it was for you to stay with me in the first place? You're not overstaying your welcome. If you _want_ to find your own place, that's a different story, but let's take some time to look for a place together. There is no rush. I will help you."

Abby looked down at her platform boots and fidgeted in her seat.

Gibbs continued. "Where is this all coming from anyway? You seemed fine this morning. I know we're all shaken up after today but that means we should take some time to regroup, not pull apart. Now, if you want to stay with Sister Marjorie, that's your choice but don't you dare dump that 'time alone with the girls' crap on me." He used his fingers as quotes to show his point, despite the fact that Abby was refusing to look at him. "That's not true and you know it!"

Abby continued to stare at her boots.

Gibbs sighed. "Abbs, look at me."

When she didn't move, he gently reached out and lifted her chin with his hand. She blinked back tears and chewed on her lip.

"I'm going to take a stab in the dark here, mostly because Tony already told me some stuff…"

Abby's eyes widened again and she opened her mouth indignantly, "He shouldn't have said anything!"

Gibbs lifted a brow. "Oh, why is that? Because you are so forthcoming on your own? Is that it?"

Abby closed her mouth.

"Abby, Aimee, and Janessa don't change anything between us. They don't change how I feel about you. I'm still the same ole Gibbs, the same grumpy guy who brings you Caf-Pows and makes unrealistic demands on you. I'm still going to make you tell me about your life and who you're dating. I'm still going to keep poking my nose in where it doesn't belong."

Gibbs saw a hint of a smirk graced her face.

"Aimee and Janessa are my daughters, but so are you. You were my first after Kelly. You are helping to heal my heart, Abbs, and I'm sorry I dropped the ball today. I wasn't there for you when you needed me most, and I feel like a failure all the way around."

Before Gibbs could finish his sentence, Abby launched herself into his arms sobbing. Gibbs embraced her, feeling his heart rate increase in his chest. He was choked up himself. He loved Abby more than he cared to admit. He loved all his team like they were his kids. He probably shouldn't let himself get so personally involved but he had. It was who he was. He had spent the better part of his career pushing people away or so he thought, but in reality, those same people had inched their way into his heart. It was why his front door was unlocked and open all the time. It was why his team felt so free to come and go in his home. On the outside, he was gruff and impossible; on the inside, he was jelly and they all knew it.

"I was so scared, Gibbs. I kept hoping you'd come and when you didn't, I thought you didn't care anymore. I know it's stupid because I know you had to rescue Aimee. She needed you! She's just a little girl and I'm not. But, Gibbs, I need you too. I'm sorry I'm so hopeless."

Gibbs held her and pressed a kiss onto her head. He never knew where this insecurity and jealousy came from with Abby, but it was there. And it wasn't the first time he'd seen it. For some reason, she had a strong bond with him. Maybe it was because he was the first authority figure in her life after her parents died. He couldn't be sure but she craved his attention and his love. He was bonded to her as well. He couldn't help himself. She was his Abby.

"It's okay, Abbs. I'm here and you're safe now." He gently pushed her away and looking into her green eyes, swimming in tears. "I'm just one man, Abby. I'm not the superhero you think I am, but know this, I promise to be here for you as much and as often as I am able. You're going to need to be patient with me while we figure all this out, okay?"

Abby nodded again and sniffled. Gibbs reached out and tapped her nose playfully.

"So what's it gonna be? Sister Marjorie's place or mine?"

Abby sucked in her bottom lip and sighed. "Yours."

Gibbs smiled. "Okay then, let's go home and get some rest."

He pulled Abby to her feet and into another warm embrace. "I love you, Abbs. Ain't nothing going to change that. I hope the guy you marry someday is ready for a father-in-law like me."

Abby giggled in his arms and Gibbs smiled as well, pulling her in tighter. Maybe, just maybe, he'd figure it all out.


	11. Chapter 11

Gibbs looked at the teary eyed little girl in front of him and he had to steel himself not to gather her into his arms and hug her. As much as it was breaking his heart, they needed to have this conversation and come to an understanding. Aimee had been home from the hospital for a couple days now and things were beginning to gain some normalcy once again. Abby had returned to his home and was back to her bubbly self, safe in her reassurances that Gibbs loved her despite the changes in their lives. Janessa was still her adorable self, oblivious to all that had happened. Tim was staying with Gibbs for some much-needed bed rest. He needed time to recover from his injuries in MTAC which allowed Abby time to dote on him continuously much to the younger man's chagrin and Gibbs' amusement.

"But you said you weren't mad," whispered Aimee, breaking into his thoughts.

Gibbs sat down on her bed beside her, pulling her into a hug. Her more subdued demeanor was a welcome change from earlier when he'd told her they needed to chat more about what happened and discuss rules. He thought she'd pop a blood vessel when he'd first brought it up.

"And I'm not. Do I look mad?" he asked, looking deeply into her tear filled eyes.

Aimee shrugged her shoulders and swiped at tears that betrayed her.

"I meant what I said; I'm not mad but that doesn't mean that there aren't consequences for your actions. You deliberately disobeyed me and many others that day, Aimee. Ducky and Jimmy are to be obeyed the same as me when you're at NCIS. If you're in the duck pond, they are the top ducks. Got it?"

"Yah, I got it," she sighed in resignation.

"That also includes Director Shepard, Tony, Ziva, and Tim. Catch my drift?"

She nodded again.

"Good. Now the question remains, what am I supposed to do now? How can I be sure that you're going to remember this?"

Aimee rolled her eyes, making a face at him. "Duh, Gibbs, there is no way in hell I'm going to forget almost freezing to death." Then realising what she said, she clamped a hand over her mouth quickly to prevent any other random outbursts.

Gibbs had to bite his tongue not to burst out laughing at her words and the way she looked at him so incredulously.

"Nice language," he said as her face paled.

"Sorry."

Gibbs stood to his feet and grabbed the chair from her desk. He placed it backward in front of her and straddled it, sitting down and leaning his elbow on the back. He reached his other hand into his pocket and pulled out the jackknife she had taken from his room. He held it up so she could see it.

"This little item almost cost you your life."

Aimee swiped away more tears and stared at the knife.

"Was it worth it?"

Aimee bit her lip but said nothing.

"I gather it wasn't." He tossed the knife towards her and she caught on reflex. "It's yours now. I figure you earned it. I don't like the fact that you stole it from me though, and I hope that in the future you might consider asking me before repeating that action. You might find it interesting to know that I would have given it to you had you just asked."

Aimee looked at him in awe as she held the knife in her hands. "How did I earn it?" she asked with a look of confusion settling on her face.

"Well, I think you learned a valuable lesson through all this. Getting locked in that drawer must have been pretty scary. Am I right?"

She nodded.

"I'm not rewarding you for disobeying me. I gave it to you because I trust you, and I know you can handle the responsibility, just like I think you're old enough to handle the consequences for your behaviour."

Aimee's face clouded. "So, it's a trick then."

"How do you figure that?"

Aimee stood to her feet and crossed her arms. "You're gonna punish me."

Gibbs scrubbed a hand across his face. "Getting locked in a morgue drawer and nearly dying wasn't enough punishment for you?"

Aimee looked confused. "You said there'd be consequences."

"Yes, I did, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be the one handing them out. Don't get me wrong here; you ever pull a stunt like this again or anything like it then you, me, my hand and your backside are going to have a meeting you won't soon forget. And when I say that, I mean all this attitude and disobedience you've been giving me whenever you're told to do something you don't like. It stops here and now. I'm the dad and you're not. We clear?"

Aimee's eyes looked big and wide as Gibbs spoke. He waited for a response from her, even if it was only a nod. He wanted her to know that he was finished fooling around. As much as he was quick to smack Tony and Tim, he wasn't so quick to use corporal punishment with children as a rule but he wasn't averse to the idea. In his mind, there was a time and a place for it when it came to raising kids. Maybe that made him old fashioned but he was alright with that. Why mess with something that had worked for generations?

"Yah, we're clear," she finally said softly, "but if you're not handing out consequences than who is?"

Gibbs stood to his feet. "You are."

Aimee furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"You have the rest of the afternoon to come up with a suitable consequence for yourself, and you're going to stay right here in your room until you do."

Aimee blinked. "So, I was right; it is a trick. You're grounding me to my room."

"No, Aimee, I'm not. You can come out anytime you're ready to tell me what your consequence should be."

Aimee stood up, dropping the knife into her pocket and crossed her arms. "Okay, then, I'm ready now."

Gibbs smirked, not surprised by her antics. "Alright, what's your consequence?"

"My consequence is _you_ get to give me a consequence," she countered with a cheeky expression on her face.

Gibbs was taken aback for a few seconds, but he recovered quickly. Aimee was a smart little thing so he knew she was well aware of what she was saying. He felt like she was daring him or trying to one-up him.

"You sure you want to go that route?" He allowed a note of mystery to linger in his voice.

Aimee's face paled a little. "Maybe…depends on what you have in mind."

Gibbs smirked. "Oh, no, that's not how the game is played, Smarty Pants. You either pick that consequence or you don't. What's it going to be?"

Aimee took a few steps back looking beyond uncertain. Gibbs picked the chair up and turned it around before he sat down. He figured he'd play the game to its fullest extent. He undid the button on the right sleeve of his shirt and began to roll up it up. Aimee visibly paled some more, catching his drift completely.

"On second thought, I think I'd better think about it some more."

Gibbs stopped and stood up, unrolling his sleeve once again. "I think that's a good idea. I'll check in on you in a couple of hours." He planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Love ya, Aims."

—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—NCIS—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—ooOOoo—

Gibbs chuckled as he made his way down the stairs. Aimee was a force to be reckoned with on a good day so he was thankful it was a good day and that he'd gotten a good night's sleep, time off work and plenty to do to keep him busy. He reached the foot of the steps to see Janessa crawling on her hands and knees with a stuffed toy hanging out of her mouth.

"What are you doing?"

Janessa looked up at him, her eyes twinkling. "I'mga dock."

Gibbs laughed. "You're a duck?"

Janessa spat the toy on the floor, rolling her eyes. "No, Mr. Gibbs, I'm a dog." She stuck out her tongue and started panting like a dog and then barked for added dramatic effect.

"Oh, well, in that case," he leaned over, picked up the toy and tossed it back into the other room, "Fetch, Rover."

Janessa scowled and stood to her feet, placing her hands on her hips. "My name is not Rover, and I don't chase toys."

Gibbs chuckled, picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. "Okay, Not Rover, then maybe I should toss you into the other room so I can chase you." Janessa giggled and started kicking her feet in an attempt to escape.

"No, Daddy!"

Gibbs smiled as he walked into the family room with the little girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The way she could so simply swing back and forth between calling him Mr. Gibbs and daddy made him think she was easily transitioning to using the name daddy permanently. That knowledge brought a smile to his face and skip to his step. He was going to let it happen naturally with no prodding on his part. Same with Aimee. She called him Dad sometimes as well but mostly she still used Gibbs. It was all the same to him. But he did secretly like the sound of daddy in his ears.

As he entered the room, he saw Tim lying on the sofa reading a book. Tony was flipping through some channels on the television.

"When are you going to invest in a flat screen T.V., Boss?"

Gibbs dropped Janessa onto Tony's lap. "Not anytime soon, DiNozzo."

Tony groaned as Janessa landed in his lap. "There is such a thing as cable nowadays and coloured television. It's a foreign concept for you I know, but I'm sure you can handle it…"

Gibbs picked up a book from his book shelf and also dropped it into Tony's lap. "That's a book, DiNozzo; I know it's a foreign concept for you but I'm sure you can handle it."

Tim snickered.

Tony looked at the book and grimaced at the old classic as he helped a squirming Janessa to her feet. The little girl dropped to her knees and continued panting and barking as she exited the room once again.

"Stay out of your room, Ness; Aimee needs some private time right now," he called after her, figuring that was the direction his little doggie was headed.

"True Grit, Boss? Have you really read that?" asked Tony, flipping the book over to read the back cover synopsis. "Wonder if it's anything like the movie," he muttered more to himself now as he opened it to the first page.

Janessa wandered back into the room. "Is Aimee in trouble, Mr. Gibbs?"

Gibbs gave her a smile of reassurance. "Nope. She's just doing some thinking for me and when she has an answer to my question, she can come out of her room. Can you give her some time alone for me?"

"Okay," she said quietly, looking a little unsettled and then perked up suddenly, "What's the question? Maybe I know the answer so she can come out sooner."

Gibbs thought for a moment. "Well, do you know what BEDMAS means?" he said, flying by the seat of his pants.

Janessa wrinkled her nose. "What's that?"

"Something you won't learn about until Grade 6, Nessie," said Tim, looking up from his book.

Janessa walked over to Tim and crawled up into his lap. "Are you done reading yet, Timmy?"

Gibbs noticed Tim grimace as the small girl climbed up into his lap. He still had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked up at Gibbs regretting saying anything, almost pleading with him for a reprieve. Gibbs walked over and scooped Janessa up in his arms. This time she protested and wiggled to get down.

"I wanna sit with Timmy, daddy."

Gibbs tucked her on his hip and looked at her. "Right now, Tim needs to rest so what else can you do to occupy your time?"

"Can you read me a story?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, normally I would say that's a good idea, but I need to have a chat with Tim for a bit, and then I have some chores I need to do outside. I tell ya what; I will read you a story before bed tonight. How does that sound?"

Janessa flung herself backward causing Gibbs to nearly drop her. "But I want a story now." Her voice was a loud whine that surprised him. She wasnt usually so persistent.

Gibbs supported her back more so she couldn't throw herself backward again. "Perhaps a nice, cozy nap on my bed will fix that whine of yours," he suggested.

Janessa's eyes grew large and she shook her head, a pout settling on her face.

Tony took that as his cue to step into big brother mode and whisked Janessa out of Gibb's arms.

"C'mon, you little Rascal, I think it's about time I taught you how to climb that rope on the tree house. You seem to struggle with that, and if you expect to escape the bad guys, you're gonna need to learn how."

Janessa's eyes sparkled in wonderment. "What bad guys, Tony?"

"What? Gibbs hasn't told you about the treehouse bad guys?" He made a shocked face and tucked her under his arm, rushing from the room.

Gibbs shook his head, laughing as he sat down in the arm chair opposite Tim. Tim went back to his book and heaved a sigh of relief.

"How are you doing, Tim?"

"You mean between Abby hovering like a mother hen and Tony endlessly teasing me? I'm just fine and dandy; thanks for asking, Boss." The sarcasm in his voice permeated the room. Gibbs was actually surprised. Usually, Tim didn't dare make a ruffle let alone use sarcasm around him.

Gibbs stretched out and put his feet on the coffee table. He leaned back and rested his head on the back of the chair. It felt kind of nice to be lazy even though he had a whole list of things he wanted to do today. He figured if Tim was going to beat around the bush and be grouchy, he'd sit and relax awhile before pressing him further. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the silence, feeling enormously thankful for Tony's quick thinking. The younger man made a fantastic big brother for the girls or maybe uncle was a better name. Whatever he was, Gibbs appreciated all the help he could get because parenting was seriously a hard job no matter how he sliced it.

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at me?"

Gibbs opened his eyes and looked at Tim. "Uh, last time I looked, I was staring at the back of my eyelids, McGee."

"Well, are you just going to sit there?"

"My house, McGee. I can sit here and paint my toenails if I like."

Tim sighed. "I'm fine, Boss. I just want to relax and read my book, okay?"

"Fine by me; don't let me stop you." Gibbs closed his eyes again.

He heard Tim rustle around and heave several sighs before closing his book with a thud.

"If you want to talk, then talk."

Gibbs sat up. "Never said I wanted to talk. I just asked a simple question about how you were doing."

Tim looked at him incredulously. "It's never just a simple question with you. There is always a double hidden meaning, so go ahead, out with it so I can finish my book."

Gibbs blinked. He hadn't seen this side of Tim before. He kind of liked the spunk the kid was displaying. He was showing a lot of gumption, and it was refreshing.

"A wise man once told me that whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Pretty lame adage huh?" Gibbs chuckled and then continued, "He also said that I can learn from my mistakes and sometimes things happen that are out of my control and not my fault at all. Those times are the hardest but if I learn to discern the difference, then I'll have learned something valuable."

Tim was quiet. "Who told you that?"

"My dad."

"Sounds like a smart man."

Gibbs nodded. "Yah, he is. Too bad I spent the better half of my teenage years fighting with him. I might have learned more adages from him to share with you."

This time Tim smirked. "I'm sorry, Boss."

"For what, McGee?"

"For screwing up so badly. For not knowing that it was all a ruse. For not realising the…"

"Tim, listen up for a minute."

Tim stopped talking and sighed. "What?"

"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known what was going to happen any more than I could have known Aimee locked herself in the morgue drawer. You were doing your job, Tim. No one else expects anything else and beating yourself up isn't going to change anything."

Tim licked his lips and shook his head. "Not the same thing, Boss. No comparison at all."

Gibbs stood up and sat on the coffee table across from Tim. He picked up the book the younger man was reading. He wasn't surprised to see a mystery novel in his hands.

"Research?"

Tim blushed. "Don't worry, Boss; I've retired Agent L.J. Tibbs a long time ago."

Gibbs smiled and handed him the book. "It's up to you, Tim. You can spend your time relaxing and enjoying your time off as you recover or you can waste it sitting around and blaming yourself. I know which one I'd choose." Gibbs patted his arm kindly and rose to his feet to leave the room.

"Boss?"

"Ya, Tim?"

"Your dad give you any other sage advice?"

"Yup."

"Could you share more with me sometime?"

Gibbs smiled and nodded. "Sure, Tim, I can do that."

Tim returned the smile and returned to reading his book.

Gibbs headed towards his front door, looking forward to some alone time with his thoughts. He had taken some more time off, needing the time to figure out how he was going to balance work and family life. The last time he'd had a family to deal with, he hadn't been alone in the balancing. He'd had Shannon to help with the decisions. He never saw himself being alone and raising kids. Gibbs grabbed a ball cap from the rack as he reached the doorknob to open it.

"Daddy, can we talk?"

Gibbs spun on his heel to see Aimee sitting on the stairs, looking rather forlorn. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and nodded.

"Sure." He sat down beside her and turned to face her, resting his chin on his hand. "Come up with anything?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I thought and thought but everything I came up with sounded dumb. So, maybe my original idea was right after all." She had tears shimmering in her eyes.

"I see, so you want me to give you a consequence?"

"I do and I don't"

"Sounds like a quandary to me."

Aimee scrunched up her nose in confusion. "A what?"

Gibbs chuckled. "A sticky situation."

"Oh, yah."

"Well, I feel like it's a sticky situation for me too. I wanted you to pick a consequence for your attitude and behaviour that you thought was fair. I'm not sure you will be happy with anything I decide. See my dilemma here?"

Aimee nodded. "I just can't think of anything."

"Well, what did you come up with that was dumb? Let's start there."

Aimee fidgeted. "Well, since I didn't obey rules about Autopsy then I guess it's only fair that I'm not allowed to go down there anymore unless I'm invited."

"That sounds fair to me. What happens if you do anyway?"

"I won't, Gibbs. I keep my promises."

Gibbs nodded. "Okay, fair enough. Is that it?"

Aimee twirled a piece of her long hair around her finger. "And I guess 'cause I didn't finish my homework like you asked, I should get more of it even though I do know all my math facts."

Gibbs looked surprised. "You do?"

Aimee nodded.

"What's 8 plus 9?"

"17," she said without pausing.

"6 plus 9?

"15."

"26 plus 42?"

Aimee thought for a few seconds, working hard to do her mental math. "68?"

"Yup, 87 plus 25?"

"Ummm…" She stuck out her tongue as she looked up at the ceiling, calculating in her mind. "easy-peasy 112. And 9 times 9 is 81 and 3 times 4 is 12 and…"

Gibbs laughed, definitely impressed and feeling like he'd under estimated her.

"Okay, okay, I catch the drift. Why'd you act like you didn't know them?"

Aimee chewed on the corner of her lip. "I just didn't feel like doing it, that's all."

"Not the trained seal type, huh?"

Aimee crinkled her nose. "What?"

"Never mind," he chuckled. "Okay, so no more playing with Jimmy in Autopsy, and more homework. Is that all?"

"Well, yah. That's an awful lot to me, and I feel bad about Jimmy too."

"How so?"

"Well, he didn't do nothing wrong and he still gets punished. Now I can't help him with stuff."

Gibbs rested his elbows on his knees thoughtfully. "Yah, that is too bad. I guess sometimes the decisions we make affect others too. That's something important to remember."

Aimee nodded her agreement.

Gibbs wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close, pressing a kiss on her brow.

"Well, I'm adding one-week K.P. duty and you have a deal."

Aimee looked at him in indignation. "One week?"

"It's either that or a trip across my knee."

Aimee quickly held out her hand for him to shake. "A week is good; you've got yourself a deal."

Gibbs took her hand and shook it. "Now, how about you come outside and help me fasten that window on the tree house permanently?"

Aimee stood to her feet. "Aw, do we have to?"

Gibbs patted the top of her head with a roll of his eyes. "Yes, we have too." He mimicked her whiny voice. "I'm not stupid, Aims. I know you've been using the window to climb higher up that tree."

"I can't get anything past you, can I?" she asked, jumping from the second last step to the bottom floor.

Gibbs grabbed her by the hand, tossed her over his shoulder and swatted her backside playfully.

"Nope and don't you forget it."

Aimee squealed and broke out laughing as Gibbs carried her out the front door.

 _ **Well, we've come to the end of this little tale. Hope you enjoyed it :)**_

 _ **Thanks for the reviews and for letting me know you are enjoying my little NCIS universe. I love the characters too. I have some ideas for one-shots and will write a few for you. My time is going to be more limited soon as we will be adding a new little person to our family at the end of October. A new baby plus homeschooling is going to keep my hands busy for a few months.**_

 _ **Writing is a love of mine so I will be sure to keep puttering away at it.**_

 _ **I get 100's of views on my stories and I love that people enjoy reading my work.**_

 _ **Keep reading and reviewing.**_

 _ **God bless,**_

 _ **Jenny Wrens**_


End file.
